Wanjiru Wakaba Interview of a Native of Kenya

                                                       

 

Hey, my name is Wanjiru Wakaba. A student in the UK, but born and raised in Kenya. I became

interested with dreads in 2009, so I decided to do them in 2010 June. At first my parents thought I was joking because I was about to join university.

 

So they thought the career I had decided to focus on, engineering, with such a hair style no one would take me seriously. 2009, while still doing my foundation year so as to join university abroad, I discovered I was more artistic and decided to change my career and do mass communication.

 

So I joined university. I remember my mum was against me having dreads because the few people she came across she thought their hair was dirty all the time. To reasons best known to her.. so she was advising me people will never take me serious.

 

But now I am happy she has come to accept that I have dreadlocks because I made her realize it's not all about someone being lazy and that they don't like washing their hair that was making them go for dreadlocks. Its all about the passion and loyalty of loving the hairstyle.

I am quite pleased about how having dreadlocks has made me change a few people's perspective when judging those with dreadlocks. A few times I have been stereotyped by my former students in the university I go to. Pin pointing me saying I do weed, I listen to roots and reggae music (which is not bad), and I am violent...such annoying things. 

 

I met my boyfriend just after putting in dreads, his are longer too. I am so sure if I didn't change my mum's perspective of dreadlocks she would be against my relationship, but now I am happy because even my older siblings (a brother and a sister) have started growing dreads and my mum hasn't said a word to them. Even when she is going shopping she gets the three of us deadlock hair products.

For my boyfriend, which I can't say much about him being stereotyped, but I can pin point a few scenerios when we have been together. He is called Sergi John. He is Kenyan like me, currently residing in Kenya. He has grown his dreadlocks since December 2007. At one point we were club hopping on a Saturday night out when this police officer stopped us and started checking his pockets asking if he did drugs just because he had dreadlocks. They thought he was carrying marijuana. Then later after searching and getting him carrying my phone and his phone in his pockets they started questioning him how come he has two phones.

Here is clear pics of my boyfriend