Basseterre, St. Kitts — Facilitators and students at the New Town-based People Employment Programme (PEP) School of Cosmetology, under the guidance of PEP Training Coordinator Mrs Celia Christopher, have launched their third open house session and are sending out an open invitation to members of the general public to come and experience their professional services.
“Dubbed ‘Ready to Face the World’, the students are inviting members of the public to partake of the professional services rendered for only a small fee,” explained Senior PEP Facilitator, Ms Juliette Queeley. “We are actually not charging for the service. The small fee is to cater for products and materials used.”
Since the establishment of the PEP School of Cosmetology at the New Town Community Centre, all the PEP cosmetology classes have been using it for their practical work. The last open house session which was held over the Christmas period last year attracted large crowds, coming from all corners of the island.
According to Ms Queeley, the students are now getting ready to be certified, but while they are waiting for it to happen they have decided to continue to practise as this will give them a better hands-on grip on what they have been learning.
“So in the meantime, we have come up with the idea that we are going to have a more or less permanent clinic where you can come in and get yourself the services we are offering which include hair shampoo, relaxers, treatments, and manicures and pedicures,” said Ms Queeley.
“We already have had one week and are into our second week and response has been fantastic because the students work on each other, and we have some members of the public that came in, who heard from word of mouth. We intend to send word out and we are using our Facebook page.”
The current open house session will continue right to the end of their training session where they hope to sustain the class through the token charges, and while the students are getting ready to exit, another batch of students could be enrolled and that way the training will be continuous.
“This training could be sustainable if the clinics are continuous,” pointed out Ms Queeley. “People pay a small stipend to buy the material and products. They are not paying for the service; they are paying to maintain the products and the materials. We know that we use the towels, and once we get little money we can replace the towels.
“As more people come we can get more stuff from the monies that they would have paid.”
A special treat is being extended to persons 55 and above. According to the facilitator, every last Wednesday of the month will be set aside for the seniors who will enjoy a 50% discount of the already low fee.
The rationale behind having a special day for the seniors is based on the fact that a lot of the older folks are not able to cut their own nails, and are also not able to go out to have their hair done professionally sometimes due to pressures of home activities. The students will provide that avenue for them, and they will be pampered.
“Remember they are part of the society, we want them to feel that they are included,” said Ms Queeley. “They can come any time but their special time will be the last Wednesday of the month and they will get a big discount, so it pays to be older and then you get rewarded.”