David works at the Ocean Barber Shop, a Kinyozi owned by his brother—one barrack, three chairs, and three electric shavers. 15 hairdressers are working there. It is 50 shillings (40euro cents) to shave hair and beard, 30 for just the hair and 20 for the beard. It has an average of 20 costumers per day and every customer has its own hairdresser. This means that David has normally 2 customers per day. He works for half an hour per day and then waits. For every 50 shillings, he earns he has to give 20 to the owner. This makes every hairdresser earning 60 shillings per day.
The owner could earn more by shaving people directly and employing one hairdresser. But David explains me that he cant because now over 15 people survive with that Kinyozi and otherwise they will become criminals. Moreover, every customer has his hairdresser and customers could go elsewhere following their hairdressers. David emphasises how they are like a community. When electricity supply started to be unreliable, they had a meeting and decided that the hairdresser would keep only ten shillings every 50 to allow the owner to save and buy a generator. This choice saved the earnings of all.
Walking with David I have met one of its customers. He comes every two days and always wants to be shaved by him. This customer accounts for 25% of all the earnings of David. Sunday is the key day where you can have the chance to get more customers. For this reason, David is spending seven day a week from morning till evening in the barber shop.
Since they have changed the police boss in this area crime has raised a lot. I don’t know where all these guns come from, but in the evening there are a lot of thieves. If you are from here and they are from here, you give them what you have and they won’t shoot you. If they recognise you and you ask them not to rob you, they would tell you “sorry but this is my job”. But you can ask them to leave you the sim card with the phone numbers. And they open the mobile and give it to you.
You know they don’t want to do this work… They have to. You know when you are hungry and you haven’t eaten breakfast if you see someone who is loosing his money you don’t give them back to him. You keep the money and say thanks to God.
The following day in the main street when you see the guys who robbed you, you keep quiet if you speak they can even gun you down. You know you cannot go to these guys and try to convince them to stop robbing if you can’t offer them a job. They would take any job, they are good guys. In these times, in Nairobi we have a saying “looking for a job is a job”.
Last week, there was no electricity so all the boys from the shops around were idling in the bar in front of the Kinyozi (barbershop). A policeman came and asked what they were plotting. He went to everyone and everyone told what his job was and that he was there because he couldn’t work without electricity. After some time, the man came back with 10 policemen and arrested everybody saying that we are macangas and that our was an illegal meeting. (magangas are the people who collect the fare on the buses, a law prohibits them to gather). The policeman was one of my customer at the Kinyozi, I told him you know me I shaved you yesterday. He said he was just doing his job.
We had to spend the all night in jail. More than fifteen in a small room. There was an open plastic jar to pee in a corner. It was very smelly and if someone was peeing outside the pee would pollute the whole floor making impossible to sit and try to sleep.We were lucky that we were a big group of friends and that this was our police station. If you are in another one, they can beat you a lot and bully you. They can ask to wash your hands in the pee and even to drink it. And you must do it otherwise they’ll beat you harshly.
All the families came; they asked a bribe of 1,000 shillings for every person. And my brother had to pay. If you don’t pay they take you to the bigger police station in the industrial area, and there you have to pay 3,000 shillings or if you don’t pay they condemn you to three months jail.
And all this is for nothing. We were just sitting and talking.
They want money, the boss tell them I need 10 boys and his men arrests 10 people, if he asks for more they will take him more. He knows it is 1,000 each and asks for people according to how much money he needs. But sometimes the police only want some small money so they stop you. They say you smell marijuana, they put some in your pocket while they search you.
And you know that they want whatever money you have, you give it to them as you give it to the thieves.
