Theatre company brings the theatre to the children

A community activist at heart Cheslyn Steenberg started a hair cutting campaign that will see boys get a free haircut.

Steenberg pays a barber for haircuts for a certain number of boys whom he works with, he said the aim is to boost their confidence.

“The idea is to send the boy back to school with dignity. We want them to look good so that they feel good and ready for the school year. We have partnered with barbers in Kensington, Factreton and Maitland. Each barber will do 30 haircuts. The boys will go to the barber with a voucher which has been paid for. The average cost of a haircut is R50.”

Speaking to News24, he said that he has seen how one’s confidence drops when a person doesn’t have a good haircut.

“The purpose is to restore dignity to the boys. As we know father figures are absent and the mother now needs to see to everyone. As a young man, a father and a husband I grew up without a father too. As a father now, I know what it is for a young man to go to school with uncut hair,” Steenberg explained.

Steenberg says they hope to assist 90 boys.

He says too many children are loitering in the streets, making them easy targets for criminals.

“When you tell a boy he must go to school and you don’t give that child lunch or their school shoes are broken, they will not go to school because they will be teased. Some of these kids want to go to school but they don’t have the resources. We want to keep the kids in school, otherwise they become targets for gangs and because the kids are desperate, they easily fall prey.”

Steenberg is appealing for people to donate to his campaign, those who are interested get reach him on 083 543 1344.

Editor’s note:

Steenberg pays a barber for haircuts for a certain number of boys whom he works with, he said the aim is to boost their confidence. The idea is to send the boy back to school with dignity.

Description: A community activist at heart Cheslyn Steenberg started a hair cutting campaign that will see boys get a free haircut.

Editor: Anirlé de Meyer

Project manager: Anirlé de Meyer