Trainee beauty salon, Jandira, Brazil, 2008 Euro 

Hairdresser's opened!

On 15 April, a salon which provides training for hairdressing opened its doors in the new premises of the Casa Familia en Vida foundation. In addition to running a successful home for street children, the foundation has worked tirelessly over the past two years to achieve the construction of an educational centre in the middle of one of the many slums in Jandira.. The centre will eventually have three floors. The first two floors - where all educational activities will take place - are finished.

The hairdressing salon looks very professional and will no doubt attract many customers, particularly as the trainee hairdressers will work at reduced prices. Two girls and a boy (all between 15 and 18 years old) have been selected to receive basic training as hairdressers in the coming months. Two of them come from the Casa Familia home for street children and one is a teenage mother from the slum. An older woman from the area, who is a professional hairdresser, will be taught training skills. She will be in charge of running the school, and be assisted by the 3 teenagers. Our project finder has found a school for hairdressing, which will prepare all four of them for this task. After that, the doors will open for haircuts and courses. The courses will not be free. An amount will be charged to ensure that there is enough effort and motivation, but the certificate given after 6 months will be sufficient, together with a job and specialized courses, to continue working as a hairdresser. The girls in the neighbourhood can't wait to start the course.

The four permanent hairdressers/trainers will receive a basic salary, funded by the course. The income from haircuts (0.75 Eurocent per haircut) will cover the general running costs of the salon. By charging so little for a haircut, there will be enough haircuts for trainees to do. Blow drying, hair colouring and other extra treatments will be charged separately and will provide the four hairdressers with extra salary. The hairdresser's training/salon will thus be financially independent within a few months of opening.

The foundation 'Casa Familia e Vida' was set up in 1998. It is an independent, small-scale organization with a Catholic background. The foundation is located on the outskirts of São Paulo (Brazil) in the poor suburb of Jandira, an area where the slums are slowly but surely spreading. In 2005 Moments of Joy supported a school 'backpack' project for this organization. 

The foundation 'Casa Familia e Vida' develops educational activities. In addition to their successful shelter for street children, they want to help poor families to achieve a better existence by offering training programmes to (young) adults. As part of this effort they started to build an educational centre in the slum area last year. The project has been made possible through the aid of many individual sponsors and the municipality of Jandira. 

The centre is situated on a hill and consists of 3 floors. The ground floor is going to be used for small independent ateliers for such activities as a shop, handicrafts, trainee beauty salon and a jewellery atelier. There will also be space for a children's clinic for children aged 0 to 4. The first floor will have 3 classrooms for various school activities and a play centre where disadvantaged children learn to play with educational toys under guidance when their mothers are taking a class in one of the independent ateliers. The upper floor will be used for church activities, and has an apartment for a superintendent (so that there will be day and night supervision of the building). Local teachers from the slum area will be employed for the various courses. 

Courses are offered to women in the surrounding areas to help them break the vicious circle of their existence. By offering them a means and training, poor families regain their self-esteem and can build a life. They learn handicrafts, how to make jewellery and dye textiles. By producing and selling their own products in a shop which they will run themselves in he centre, the women will succeed in establishing their own fully-fledged place in the community. 

The jewellery atelier started in November 2005 and is doing well. The great desire now is to open a trainee beauty salon in June 2006 for young women and young mothers (teenage mothers to a great extent). By giving them the chance to learn the hairdressing trade, they will be able to take further courses or find a job in one of the many hairdressing salons in Jandira. Brazilian women - no matter how poor they may be - always devote a great deal of attention to their physical appearance and go regularly to the hairdresser. 
A trainee salon is part of the training programme and also provides income that in any case is sufficient to be able to purchase the necessary products. By working with real 'models', people who are served for a lower rate, the training salon will quickly be able to pay for itself. Working with real customers also has the advantage of giving experience in the "real" work situation. 

A group of Spanish-speaking women in Alphaville has offered to sponsor the initial smaller items that are required, which include such things as towels, hair products, scissors, razors, manicure sets and beauty products. But help is needed to purchase the equipment (which can be obtained second-hand). 

Equipment : 
" 2 adjustable hairdressing chairs
" 2 manicure tables
" foot dryer
" sterilization machine for manicure tools
" sterilization machine for scissors, etc.
" mirror 3.20 X 0.80 cm
" 3 attached chairs for the waiting area
" 1 washing chair with attached washing sink
" 2 revolving chairs
" (hood) hair dryer
" equipment cart 
" sink/ kitchen unit
" cupboard for towels, shampoo etc.
" small removable ledge
" below the hairdressing mirror to place things on. 

Total 2007.60 Euro 

Total € 2008,-- 

adopted by friends of  Paul and Elisabeth Glazener - Ceulen 

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