Teenage barber tidies up in Turkey’s earthquake camp

Hamo, 18, is providing open-air haircuts to his household and others displaced by the catastrophe.

The Hamo household moved to Antakya in 2014 from Aleppo in Syria, fleeing their nation's brutal civil conflict for Turkey [Sameer al-Doumy/AFP]

Scholar Mohammed al-Hamo, who discovered to chop hair to earn cash in his spare time, by no means imagined he would put his expertise to make use of in a tent camp for Turkey-Syria earthquake survivors.

Following the devastation brought on by the February 6 earthquakes that destroyed swaths of southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, 18-year-old Hamo is providing open-air haircuts to his household and people displaced by the catastrophe.

“If anybody comes he'll for certain give them a haircut,” stated his father Khaled with a proud smile as he waited for his flip within the barber’s chair.

Hamo first gave his brother a fade, fastidiously utilizing a cut-throat razor to sculpt 19-year-old Sobhi’s hairline.

Khaled is given a haircut by his 18-year-old son Mohammed al-Hamo [Sameer al-Doumy/AFP]

“I had not managed to get well my gear till now,” stated Hamo who had efficiently retrieved electrical clippers, combs, scissors and shampoo from the wreckage of his destroyed residence.

Whereas the household nonetheless has relations lacking following the earthquake that killed greater than 46,000 individuals, their instant household escaped unharmed.

Khaled stated that, past free haircuts, his two eldest sons had been volunteering to assist others within the camp in a park within the southeastern Turkish metropolis of Antakya.

‘We maintain transferring’

“Our ethical code tells us to assist individuals, so my sons do that … we don’t wait for somebody to inform us,” stated Khaled, of the pair who had helped clear the camp and labored with an assist company.

Tens of millions throughout the area have been made homeless by the earthquake, with many pressured into tented camps with restricted sanitation or entry to electrical energy and healthcare.

As Hamo dusted down his brother and ready to offer his father a haircut and shave, his mom swept up hair close by.

The earthquakes prompted widespread destruction in southern Turkey and northern Syria and killed greater than 46,000 individuals [Sameer al-Doumy/AFP]

“It feels good to do good issues to assist others. I by no means imagined I’d do that once I discovered to chop hair as I simply did it for cash to assist the household,” he stated.

He then remodeled his father’s look, threading his eyebrows, tidying up his already quick hair and leaving him clean-shaven.

“Even in these tough circumstances, we maintain transferring,” Khaled stated, his household’s garments hanging to dry on a washing line behind him.

Hamo stated he was getting ready to go to school quickly however would switch to an establishment within the Turkish capital Ankara due to injury executed to universities within the earthquake-hit area.

Eighteen-year-old Syrian Hamo (L) cuts the hair of his 19-year-old brother Sobhi (R) in entrance of their tent at a makeshift camp within the metropolis of Antakya [Sameer al-Doumy/AFP]

The household moved to Antakya in 2014 from Aleppo in Syria, fleeing their nation’s brutal civil conflict for Turkey like practically 4 million of their compatriots.

“I began cleansing in a barber store after which discovered to chop hair from there,” he stated as kids performed with a ball close by and tea brewed on a range outdoors their tent. “I desire utilizing scissors moderately than electrical shavers, it exhibits how expert a hairdresser is.”