- Title: UKRAINE-BARBER/HOMELESS Trendy Kiev barber gives free haircuts to homeless
- Date: 13th August 2015
- Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (RECENT) (REUTERS) BARBER, DMYTRO VERHOVETSKY, APPROACHING HOMELESS MAN SITTING ON STAIRS, SAYING (Russian): "Hello, would you like a free haircut?" / HOMELESS MAN REPLYING (Russian): "I don't understand." / VERHOVETSKY SAYING (Russian): "Do you want a free haircut?" / HOMELESS MAN REPLYING (Russian): "With pleasure." / VERHOVETSKY SAYING (Russian): "Let's go." VERHOVETSKY'S BARBER KIT ON STAIRS VARIOUS OF VERHOVETSKY GIVING HOMELESS MAN HAIRCUT PEOPLE WALKING BY VERHOVETSKY SHAVING HOMELESS MAN'S BEARD / HOMELESS MAN SAYING (Russian) "Thank you very much". PEOPLE WATCHING VERHOVETSKY CUTTING HOMELESS MAN'S HAIR VARIOUS OF VERHOVETSKY CUTTING HAIR OF ANOTHER HOMELESS MAN (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) KIEV BARBER, DMYTRO VERHOVETSKY, SAYING: "I believe that every man must help the way he can. I can cut hair and I help with this. I believe one should not look for excuses here. Why did I go out to cut someone's hair? The problem is - why didn't I go out to cut hair earlier." WOMAN TAKING PHOTOGRAPH (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) KIEV BARBER, DMYTRO VERHOVETSKY, SAYING: "It is easier to work with people who come to a barber shop. They come and say "I trust you". But here they have some doubts. Those who have seen my previous work sit down and say "I have no hesitation, please cut my hair as you wish." But more often they are nagging, saying "Do not make me bold, cut my hair this way instead." I must say street people is a very demanding audience." VERHOVETSKY CUTTING MAN'S HAIR / PAN DOWN TO MAN'S FACE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) KIEV BARBER, DMYTRO VERHOVETSKY, SAYING: "I want to make a good, classic man haircut, so that it will look as an expensive one, so that your salary will be raised immediately and (the employer) will say "Sanya, you look great." PEOPLE WATCHING VERHOVETSKY TAKING PICTURE OF HOMELESS MAN CALLED SANYA ON MOBILE AND SHOWING IT TO HIM HOMELESS MAN PICKING EMPTY PLASTIC BOTTLE OUT OF TRASH BIN (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) HOMELESS FROM THE UKRAINIAN TOWN OF SUMY, SANYA, SAYING: "I liked my haircut, this guy cut my hair very well, very well. Even all these people standing around here, they all have approved my haircut. Yes, he is a professional." VARIOUS OF VERHOVETSKY CUTTING HAIR AND SHAVING CLIENT IN HIS HAIR-DRESSING SALON
- Embargoed: 28th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Ukraine
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAAJXB415P5580XK80M9KGJ1WRN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Ukrainian trendy barbershop owner, Dmytro Verhovetsky makes a living by cutting hair five days a week. On his days off, he packs up his clippers and razors, jumps on his scooter and cruises the streets of Kiev looking for homeless to offer them a free haircut and a shave.
Some of Verhovetsky's clients are new to the street life, others have been living there for years.
While cutting hair he talks to homeless, trying to understand what brought them to the streets and inspire them to change their lifestyle and to start anew.
The 25-year-old Verhovetsky launched his initiative two months ago and says his only regret is that he didn't do it earlier.
"I believe that every man must help the way he can. I can cut hair and I help with this. I believe one should not look for excuses here. Why did I go out to cut someone's hair? The problem is - why didn't I go out to cut hair earlier," he said.
Verhovetsky has been cutting hair for the past eleven years and his career was a success story. He opened a luxury hair salon in Kiev and it has quickly become very popular. Verhovetsky finds working with homeless people more difficult than with his wealthy clients.
"It is easier to work with people who come to a barber shop. They come and say "I trust you". But here they have some doubts. Those who have seen my previous work sit down and say "I have no hesitation, please cut my hair as you wish." But more often they are nagging, saying "Do not make me bold, cut my hair this way instead." I must say street people is a very demanding audience," Verhovetsky said while cutting hair of a homeless man in central Kiev.
Verhovetsky says his compassion for "street clients" comes from belief that a new good haircut can change one's life for the better.
"I want to make a good, classic man haircut, so that it will look as an expensive one, so that your salary will be raised immediately and (the employer) will say "Sanya, you look great," said Verhovetsky while cutting hair of a 40-year-old man with a nickname Sanya.
Sanya, who comes from the Ukrainian town of Sumy, came to Kiev to try his luck and earn enough money to support his family. He works as a construction worker and sends his entire salary of USD100 per month back home. He cannot afford to rent a place to live - so he sleeps at a construction site, and of course - he has no spare money for a haircut. So Verhovetsky's offer to cut his hair comes in handy and makes Sanya happy.
"I liked my haircut, this guy cut my hair very well, very well. Even all these people standing around here, they all have approved my haircut. Yes, he is a professional," said a younger-looking and shaved Sanya.
Verhovetsky's street work received a lot of praise and changed some people's lives. With the permission of his street clients he posts pictures of them with new haircuts on his Facebook page. Once such a photograph helped to reunite a family, as a wife identified her missing husband in a one of Verhovetsky's clients. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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