[UPDATE at 7.00p.m 27/11/2019]: Removed “Fri” from list of days the girls attend Hairstyling training. They actually rest on Tuesdays and Fridays. BUT if they miss their normal days, they have to make it up by going to work on those rest days. Also added 2 new articles – see items 18 and 19]
LAGOS- NIGERIA @12 Noon, Wednesday 27th November 2019: Photo-Story – Yesterday (Tuesday, 26th November 2019), I took my girls (13 and 10 years old) out to lunch – picked them up from school with a change of clothes. The ten photos below describe how we spent our day.
By way of interest, the 13 year old recently got selected by the school administration to represent them in a Hair-styling Competition where she will also teach other kids.
The girl has been excited – understandably. She came to tell me 2 days ago, asking for money to buy the attachments and other stuff she’s been told will be required at the event.
I’m super excited too, because I know this opportunity will cement their interest in the vocation.
It all seems like yesterday, but they’ve actually been apprenticing now for over 2 years, starting back in 2017, when they attended a 2 week long intensive Vocational Skills Training on Cosmetic Make Up and Gele Tying, after which they chose to have me enroll them for hair-styling training at Mushin.
A year later they enrolled to apprentice at another stylist’s shop closer home.
The rest is history – as they are now competent doing various styles – and take turns to work on each others hair to do whatever hairstyle their school announce for each week.
Their boss recently told me the older girl is now able to take on paying customers without supervision.
No. 1 of 10:
Here we were getting close to our destination, then I remembered I wanted photos of them wearing these African prints I bought for them on Victoria Island,on my way to the Immigration (Passport) Office at Ikoyi.
No. 2 of 10
Selfie at the same landmark as in Photo 1 of 10. They still did not know where I was taking them. A busy school day had them looking a bit tired. By the time we got to our destination, they came alive…and I teased them about it…LOL!
No. 3 of 10
So here, they’re about to place their order inside a Domino’s Handmade Pizza outlet at Ogba. Before we arrived here though, we’d actually stopped over for about 30 minutes at a Shoe-making Training School within the same area, where I had discussions with the CEO about available courses.
No. 4 of 10
In this photo they are paying much closer attention to the choices described on the menu…after I made it clear to them that I would NOT be helping them make sense of it. Instead I challenged them to imagine I was not there and get the sales attendant to clarify any aspects they did not understand.
No. 5 of 10
Here they review entries for the order they placed, as well as the POS payment made using my card on the auto printed slips handed to them by the sales attendant. I actually insisted they study both printouts and asked them questions to be sure they understood them as well as the debit alert to my phone.
No. 6 of 10
It’s been a while since I last gave them this kind of treat. This time around it was an opportunity for me to REWARD them for sticking with the intensive regimen of combining schooling (8a.m to 2.30p.m) with Hairstyling Training (4.30p.m to 7.30p.m on Mon, Wed & Thur + 10.30a.m to 7p.m on Saturday).
No. 7 of 10
We chatted about the choices on the menu…and tried to analyze the price paid based on what they were given. They chose a MEDIUM PIZZA that came with FREE FRENCH FRIES and one bottle of FREE DRINK. I asked if they wanted to buy an extra bottle. They declined. I learned why later!
No. 8 of 10
I requested the help of a gentleman sitting at a table next to us. The bright lighting made it quite hard to take good photos. I knew this from taking the first set of photos. Our friend had to change positions quite a bit like I did, to get the best shots.
No. 9 of 10
Well, the smart young ladies waited till we left Dominos and had stopped at Chicken Republic to buy a take-away pack of jollof rice, moin moin and fried chicken for their 5 year old brother, Then they got me to buy them snacks worth 2 bottles LOL!
No. 10 of 10
The gentleman I approached to help us take the p;hotos did a great job taking multiple shots from different angles,to minimize negative impact on bright lighting coming through. FYI: We tried using my Life Book on their FREE WIFi but got a browser message: ONLY MOBILE DEVICES ALLOWED.
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