If you ask her, she will tell you that she just wanted to defy the ‘rules’. Bora Hycente Wibaze is clearly not the type to conform to stereotypes. In a society where hair cutting is considered a men’s job, Bora, as everybody calls her, has earned her place with no favours. If anything, many were those who doubted her. Being a barber, however, was not Bora’s childhood dream. She just wanted to do something different, even if she couldn’t put a name on it at the time. Since she had not yet discovered what she wanted to do, she just went ahead with studies like any other teenager, trying to figure out what she really wanted to do. Unfortunately she didn’t pass the ordinary level national examinations with good marks. For what could have been a moment of distress for some, Bora persuaded her parents to let her pursue vocational skills training instead of following up with, clearly, not promising studies. Bora’s parents who were not very well to do financially, and had to take care of other siblings as well, calmly consented to her decision. She ended up enrolling in a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) school near her home place, in Kamonyi in the southern part of Rwanda. Bora, who had hoped the new path to be very exciting, soon lost the enthusiasm in regards to the options available. She had to choose between mechatronics, sewing, braiding and related beauty care courses. Choosing the latter, she went with the hope to convince the teacher to introduce them to hair cutting. “My teacher refused when I asked him saying it was not a girl thing,” Bora explains. “But when some boys in class asked for the same thing, he promised to consider. When the course was approved, I decided to find a way to join it at whatever cost,” she continues. During one practice session, Bora decided to join her colleagues, contrary to what the teacher had suggested. They were practicing how to cut hair on some primary students of the neighbouring school. She had cut two children’s hair, when the teacher realised she was there all along. “He punished me by deducting some disciplinary marks and I was permanently prohibited from attending the class,” Bora says. Bora didn’t give up though. Years later, she went to intern in a barber shop in Kigali. “I thought coming to the city would make it easier for me to do what I wanted. So I left home and went for the adventure,” she says. Even if she was oriented in beauty related activities by her supervisor, she was allowed to observe some barbers as they practiced their craft. One day when she had arrived at work before anyone else, a client in a hurry hurled inside. “He told me he needed someone to cut his hair urgently, as he had some other business to tend to the whole day. I asked him if I could do it and he agreed,” she explains. A happy Bora did her first proper haircut, giving it everything she could. Even her boss appreciated it. She was then officially allowed to practice and get compensated for her services. Her male colleagues, however, were not happy about the move. And only a few clients would let her cut their hair. “It didn’t discourage me, I knew I had to try harder. Because I love this practice and I knew with time, I would get better at it and would need not convince anyone,” she says. Bora now works at 14Barber Salon (KBC), a place where she is quite popular. “Girls/women need to first change their attitude towards some jobs believed to be ‘for men’ and the world will follow,” she says, adding, “You may even be surprised to find out how easy it is even. For example, it doesn’t require any other special physical efforts, just passion.”
