[ad_1]
Sima Sakha spent her crucial teenage years escaping from the terrors of the Taliban. She didn’t have the resources, money or opportunity to attend school.
But she had a dream to serve her community — wherever she may be.
On Thursday afternoon, 19 years since she landed in Canada as a refugee, Sakha’s vision came true.
Sakha and her sister, Shaima Sakha, officially took over Hamilton’s iconic hairstyling school — Bruno’s School of Hair Design, revamping the 70-year-old business legacy that was first founded by London-based Bruno in 1953.
The newly renovated location — 1915 King St. E. — was decorated with balloons and party favours as the hairstylists were getting ready to offer free haircuts after the grand reopening Thursday at noon.
Over 50 people, including former students from the mid-1970s and 1980s and others more recent, celebrated the new start for Sakha sisters, beginning with a memorial for the former owner, John Morrison, who died last October.
For Sakha, who has been an instructor to young hairstylists at Bruno’s for almost six years, this was a big day.
“I felt a little nervous,” she told The Spectator, “ … but finally, today, I feel everything is OK.”
Finding her own path
Sakha was 20 years old when she and her family landed in Canada as Afghan refugees. It was a long journey — escaping the Taliban and also their lives as temporary refugees in Pakistan for five years.
While safe, her life wasn’t what a normal teenager would imagine. She worked long hours at factories in Pakistan “just to make a little money to survive,” and couldn’t finish school past seventh grade after the Taliban invaded northern Afghanistan.
She recounted, “My dream had just vanished. I thought I wouldn’t be able to do anything in life.”
Growing up, she dreamed of becoming a surgeon, like her older siblings who settled elsewhere in the world as a nurse, an engineer and a pharmacist.
Then, she said, “we got lucky somehow,” as the family started over in Hamilton in July 2003.
Moving to a new country gets harder without the required language skills, but Sakha “saw there were lots of opportunities” to learn and grow.
She enrolled for English lessons, while completing the equivalent of high school and working two jobs as a hairstylist.
By 2007, Sakha didn’t just earn her high school diploma, but also a licence to work as a hairstylist.
“I always love it when I work with people,” Sakha said. Once there, she couldn’t turn back from the profession despite her college certificates in accounting and a desk job.
“I was sitting at the desk whole day,” she said, recounting her brief days as an accountant.
“But working as a hairstylist and instructor, I’m with people every day. That’s (what) I love the most … when I see every student learn something … I see that glow in them.”
In 2018, former store owner Morrison — who acquired Bruno’s in 1965 — offered Sakha to take over the school.
But she turned it down.
“I felt I was not ready,” Sakha shared. “I wanted to travel and not get involved in something serious.”
Now, as Sakha begins her journey as the new owner, she feels ready to train more hairstylists.
“I want graduate students to be useful to their community. I want them to have big dreams … and be more creative,” she said.
The school has also been training immigrants — in collaboration with Hamilton-based non-profit Immigration Working Centre — who are starting afresh in the country, helping them attain their licence with the Ontario College of Trades.
As a refugee, Sakha understands the struggles of many immigrants, including language barriers. She said students who have English as their second language mostly “improve” and catch up on “how to communicate” by the end of the 11-month program at Bruno’s.
This isn’t just for students. Sakha noted the students also help translate for customers who don’t speak English.
Reopening at King Street would help double the capacity for students — allowing 50 students at once, Sakha said.
[ad_2]
Source link
