WALKABOUT Barber was in town this week as part of the NAIDOC Week celebrations, providing free haircuts and beauty treatments.
The mobile barber and beauty shop on wheels brings two beauty therapists and three to four barbers to communities all over the country.
During the Swan Hill visit organised by Mallee District Aboriginal Services, an excited teenage girl exclaimed to her mother that she was going to get her eyebrows done.
Walkabout Barber was the brain child of Brian Dowd.
Originally from the bush, Mr Dowd chased a rugby league dream to the city that didn’t work out as he expected.
He didn’t set out wanting to be a barber, but it all began when he took his one-year-old son, who was later diagnosed with autism, to get a haircut.
“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 that the barber couldn’t,” Mr Dowd 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 don’t just enjoy and love, but I also thrive in.
“I found my place in this world and it’s behind a barber chair.”
Mr Dowd was bankrupt at a young age and then tried to take his own life, before deciding he wanted to try and help other people.
Also possessing a postgraduate degree in trauma and recovery, he wanted to encourage men to debrief and get things off their chest.
“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,” Mr Dowd said.
“They can get a professional haircut, but also a professional conversation with a counsellor.
“It actually works, rather than sending men to a phycologist or physiatrist where they feel like they being put under the microscope and pressed for information.
“In the barber 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.”
For crisis support, call Lifeline’s 24-hour number on 131 114, Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636, or MensLine on 1300 789 978
