Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 31
Changtongya Town has been without a hairdresser for couple of years now. However, initiatives by local youths as well as a church ministry have come to the rescue and keeping the citizens trim and proper.
Other objectives are also to convey the message of dignity of labour and encourage the youth to venture into an area traditionally a domain of outsiders.
A self-taught practitioner, Tiakumzuk is one of them. He currently operates his salon six days a week, except on Sunday.
A town citizen informed that as an encouragement and in recognition of valuable service he is providing to the citizens, the Town Council recently allotted a room in a shopping complex to run his business rent-free for the initial six months.
Another self-trained youth is Merajungshi, who is also running a salon at Church Ward, Changtongya.
Apart from them, it was informed that others without opening shops were also doing the haircutting job by taking up door-to-door services, especially in the adjoining villages under Changtongya sub-division.
In the absence of such services, hair cutting was usually done on voluntary basis. According to a citizen, earlier the town had 2-3 hair cutting salons mostly run by workers from Bihar but most of them have left and the town did not have a regular barber for last 2-3 years.
Church Weekend Salon
Since January 2016, the Longchara Baptist Church Youth Ministry is on a special mission. As a part of its initiative for self-reliance and dignity of labour, the Ministry is running ‘Weekend Salon’ for cutting hair each Saturday.
The initiative was also started recognizing dearth of hairdresser in the town, LBC Youth Director Imotemjen Ozukum told The Morung Express.
It was decided at the annual church meeting in December 2015 as a livelihood mission with two main objectives, he said – to act as a catalyst for youth to take up ‘non-traditional’ jobs and highlight the scope of such works.
The primary objective is to motivate the young people to take part in the initiative and encourage them to open their own venture eventually, Ozukum said.
Consequently, every Saturday volunteers from the Church take up the hair cutting job. Initially, given free of cost, the haircuts are now done at a concessional rate to fund the Ministry’s annual magazine, he added.
The day was chosen to cater to the needs of people from all its adjoining area as they converge to Changtongya Town each Saturday for a weekly bazaar.
While many of the youth know the technique, they never consider haircutting as a viable business venture but their scope has widened after participating in the Weekend Salon, the Youth Director further informed.
After gaining confidence and recognizing its potential, some have decided to take it up as a regular job, he added.
For the initial period, the salon was managed on the roadside with a big umbrella and makeshift tent. Locals from the area also chipped in by donating scissors, comb, and mirror.
Now, people have donated even a haircutting machine as well as a rental place free of charge.
As a result, the Youth Director said, from next year the weekend salon will be converted into weekday salon, where the youth can work the whole week and volunteer the weekend for the church.
Economic independence and self-sufficiency are critical keys to spiritual growth and complement each other, he noted, adding that lack of such factors threatens one's confidence, self-esteem, and freedom.
Many talented youth are staying idle and wasting their time, therefore it is the duty of church to enable them into responsible citizens in future, Ozukum opined.
