The Lanzarote hairdresser Moad Kacha published a video on the social network TikTok a little over a week ago where he cut his hair and fixed his beard for free to José, a homeless person who lived on the street in Arrecife.
The video, which went viral with more than 65,000 views, had the power to change José's life. A simple altruistic gesture with which the young man intends to help those who need it.
Kacha, 18 years old and the youngest of five siblings, works in a hairdressing salon in Arrecife since he was 17 years old. "While I was studying ESO, I signed up for a hairdressing course that I finished that same year and I started working in my sister's hairdressing salon", he says.
"I have always been interested in my sister's work because she has worked with artists, singers and footballers and I thought: why can't I do something similar?", continues the young man.
Values instilled by his parents
Moad's need to help is not something external to his environment since, as he reveals, it is something that his parents have transmitted to him. "I always looked at my parents and my family and how they helped people, it is something that surprised me since I was little", he explains.
"Since I was little I had that courage to help people, whoever they are, and I thought about doing something different, since as I am a barber, I decided to go out on the street and have a small gesture but that can change that person in an instant", he indicates.
Kacha's parents, of Moroccan origin, have always helped those who needed it, such as offering a stranger who lives on the street to come up to their own house to eat. "My parents tell me that for the age I am I am a very great person with many values", he says.
The power of a gesture
When Moad came across José lying in a small doorway in Arrecife, he wanted to help him without hesitation, although at first, the man doubted whether they really wanted to help him or laugh at him. "At first I noticed him very quiet but then he let go and when I finished the cut I saw him with a smile from ear to ear", recalls the young man.
And José had arrived from Huelva, first to Gran Canaria and then to Lanzarote in search of work, where he had been living on the street since summer.
Thanks to the viralization of the video, he was able to get a job in a construction company and according to Moad, also a roof under which to live. "He told me after stopping by the hairdressing salon where I work and I felt very good", says the barber.
Comments and criticisms
As a result of the video, some people began to leave comments criticizing his act and calling it "interested" and doing it for a promotional reason and not as an altruistic gesture. "You would have better taken him food, clothes or a blanket, not a haircut and avoid saying the hairdressing salon where you work", says one of the comments.
However, Moad says that "he himself was the one who asked me where I worked and wanted to say it because it came from his heart". In addition, the vast majority of the comments are showing their support for the barber and congratulating him for the good action.
"If I made these videos for advertising or marketing I would record them every weekend or almost every day to upload them, but that is not the case, it is a small gesture that anyone can do", he says. "Those people who leave negative comments maybe could contribute more than me instead of criticizing", he says.
Regarding the other video that the young man uploaded cutting another man's hair in 2023, he points out that when he finished recording he took him to eat and then stopped by to see him every two weeks. "He cut his hair with me and wanted to give me some money but I told him no", he declares. In addition, the man went to Kacha on occasions when he needed something and he offered it to him.
