Abu Dhabi: She can neither hear nor speak, but that has not stopped Faisa from becoming a sought-after beautician here.
The 28-year-old Syrian is speech- and hearing-impaired from birth, but her positive attitude and disarming smile more than make up for her disabilities.
“Faisa is so full of energy. She is hardworking and always cheerful. You will never see her sulk or complain,” says her colleague, Christina Mkaheri from Kenya.
Faisa and Mkaheri have been colleagues for over five years at the Chik Salon on Hamdan Street in Abu Dhabi and over the course of time Faisa has learnt to ‘speak’ and ‘hear’ through Mkaheri.
So when XPRESS visited Faisa at the salon, Mkaheri readily offered her services as an intermediary between us and Faisa’s world of silence.
Where does she live? Who are there in her family? Did she go to university?
When our questions were communicated through sign language, Faisa’s life, her struggles and her dreams started unfolding through her friend’s lips.
Expert hands
Faisa lives with her parents, two brothers and two sisters. She is not formally educated because of her limitations. But her physical disabilities did not stop her from enrolling in a beautician’s course here.
“She came to our salon with her mother once, and the then owner offered her a job after she saw her work. Faisa is an expert in hair cutting, blow drying, waxing and eyebrow threading,” said Mkaheri.
But how does she communicate with her customers? Rather how do customers convey their likes and dislikes to her?
“Faisa has no problems understanding what her customers want. And I am always there as an intermediary. She is so good at her job that nobody has any complaints,” said Mkaheri, as she interpreted Faisa’s gestures in response to our question. Standing next to her friend, Faisa nodded in agreement.
Customers at Chik Salon are also in awe of their capable beautician.
“She has a pleasing personality and is really good at what she does. I always come here because I like her work,” said Sajitha. T., a regular customer.
Faisa, despite her disabilities, has learnt to live life to the fullest. She is a cinema buff and never misses her favourite television shows. She also regularly works out at the gym.
“Like you all, I also have dreams about a new life, about getting married,” Faisa said through Mkajeri. “But everything will happen according to God’s will.” She pointed upward and smiled.
The bell rang and she has a customer who wants a blow dry. Faisa, Mkajeri and another girl get busy ironing out the curls with a hair straightener.
Soon, two of her colleagues share a joke and laugh. In another minute, one is attending a call on her mobile. But Faisa knows no distractions and tends to her work.
“She is not the kind who is unhappy over her situation. She has no complaints against God. She completely accepts herself as she is. That is her beauty,” said Mkjari.
A truth that rings louder than all the noise around her.
