The tales, hustle, frustrations, joys, the communal life of ladies in saloons

New girl, can you come help me pick the hair? New girl can you help me finish the braids? New girl, by the way what’s your name? We have been calling you the new girl the whole day. Mary, my name is Mary or Mama Catherine (not real name of her daughter).

Mary is having her first day at the saloon. Her hardboard made saloon was broken following lack of the right permits to where it was located. The experienced hair stylist makes her probably the 10th lady hair dresser in the saloon. A mother of two, Mary is grateful to a lady who is related to the owner of the saloon. “Thank you for fighting for me”, she tells the lady. “It’s okay my young sis, I understand and we must fight, life is difficult. So never mind really”, the lady responds.

Another lady (let’s name her Jane) is heard talking to another hair dresser (a lady of course) at the corner attending a client. After few words another lady tells Jane, “you know why she sounds bitter, she only had one client today. The one she is attending now she shared with others”. They sarcastically say “She is not full today, she didn’t take the second round”.

It’s almost 10:00pm, a new client has entered. “Whaat! Plaiting knotless braids this hour? Most ladies have left by now few like 5 are left finishing their clients. ?“Oh my, this means going home at 2:00am.” Another is heard saying “What will my husband think? Can he trust me without doubt? He will ask me if you were working since yesterday how much have you made. By the time we finish it will be so late that I have to get a private transport and that will cost me up to TZS 5000 (USD 2) and I need money for transport to come back in the morning,” She speaks with frustration thinking about the crazy long hours. Some are heard saying “The boss doesn’t care, all that matters is money. We may end up sleeping in here and there’s no even a mattress to sleep on”.

Who is this person? Who is this boss they are referring to? A man seated at the counter like desk at the entrance. That’s the boss. Owner of the almost 40 feet room. He is has rented this for the saloon business. The hair dressers, make-up artists come in and work with certain agreements. The client pays the owner and the owner pays the hair dressers depending on the agreement.

Yes, it is now what seemed to be a she-business, men are well capitalizing into it. “To be able to even buy a hair dryer you need minimum of TZS 150,000 (USD 65) and this is a used one. Still you need to pay rent, and then make sure you get clients. To me I find this as helpful as I work with a goal. Before I came here I stayed home for almost two months without a job. Once I remember my children I have left in Mbeya, I got a headache. I needed to work. Am glad I got one, it doesn’t matter the working conditions” said Mary.