Webuye's unashamed hair master

KAKAMEGA: When Allan Roy Odongo from Lugari sat for his KCSE exams in 2005, he didn't have fees for his tertiary education.

However, after one year of being at home and desperate to find a way to make ends meet, Odongo arrived at a decision to take on a job mostly associated with women. Hair dressing.

"I never imagined that I would one day become a hair dresser but my decision to take on this line of work was heavily influenced by my mother. I had seen her use proceeds from this trade to raise us and I too opted to embrace it," he says.

His decision was not well received by everyone and it ended up costing him some friendships. He was also stereotyped but none of this repulsed the young man who opted to ignore the jibes.

"I lost friends but I chose to stay focused because this is a job I understand and I knew what I was doing," he says.

Today, the now 26-year-old father of one has a huge customer base in Webuye and credits this to the quality service he offers his clients.

Although the soft-spoken youth was reluctant to disclose how much he earns per day, he says that on a good day he is able to attend to six clients. On a bad day, that number goes down to three.

Odongo mostly fixes weaves for which he charges between Sh300 to Sh800 depending on the style. So quick arithmetic means that on a bad day, the stylist makes at least Sh900. This works out to approximately Sh27,000 on what would be considered a bad month.

Not bad at all.

Odongo is proud that he used his challenges as a stepping stone and says the youth should embrace whatever opportunities they have instead of just focusing on the barriers.

"There is also nothing like a male or female job. A job is a job and every task needs a workforce to steer it," he points out.