Although Kerang had a very wet start to NAIDOC week with most events for Monday cancelled, one that still went ahead was the Walk About Barber.
They visited the town this week as part of the NAIDOC week celebrations providing free haircuts and beauty treatments, all courtesy of Mallee District Aboriginal Services.
The mobile barber and beauty shop with two beauty therapist and three to four barbers, the bus brings its services to communities all over the country.
It is the brain child of Brian Dowd, who is originally from the Bush. He chased a rugby league dream to the city but that didn’t work out as he expected.
The barbering all began when his one year old son, who is autistic, needed a haircut and they went to a shop.
“Needless to say that haircut didn’t go very well and I had to go and buy a set of clippers and finish the job,” he said.
“My wife looked at me and said that I would now have to be his barber, I literally took that on and ever since I picked the clippers up I have not put them down.
“I fell in love with them and now it’s a journey I just don’t enjoy and love but I also thrive in.
“I found my place in this world and it’s behind a barber chair.”
Mr Dowd, who also has a post graduate degree in trauma and recovery, wants to encourage men to get in the chair and put on the cape to start having conversations.
Having been through the school of hard knocks, he was bankrupted at a young age and then tried to take his own life, he decided he wanted to try and help other people.
“A haircut and a chat is a good opportunity to debrief and get things off the chest, Mr Dowd said.
“What we really want is getting men in the chair, and having those conversations so that they don’t get frustrated and do things that they regret down the track.
“They can get a professional haircut, but also a professional conversation with a counsellor.
“It actually works. Rather than sending men to a psychiatrist where they feel like they being put under the microscope and pressed for information.
“In the barber’s chair it comes out easy and it comes out in conversation.
“They can have a laugh, have a cry in there.
“It’s not just for black fellas, we don’t discriminate.
“My mum and dad raised me to see the person’s spirit rather than a race, colour or religion so everybody is welcome on our bus.
“It doesn’t matter who you are.”
