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Being raised in a polygamous family comes with its many challenges, especially when the family is not financially well off.

But as  used toAfricans believe, it takes a whole village to raise a child. So many children grow up with the love and support from the community as their parents are unable to meet all their needs. 

This is the story of Christopher Majengo, founder and director at Empire Dreadlocks Parlor, one of the top dreadlocks salon in Mombasa’s Central Business District.

His father, James Majengo an Administrative Police, had married three wives and with over 20 children, it was not easy to raise them.

Christopher’s mother had seven children with Christopher being the second last born.

His father though, died in 1994 before Christopher even started school, leaving responsibility to to raise the children to his mother. 

Christopher was born and raised in Lugari, Kakamega and attended Mufutu Primary School where he completed in 2005.

He later joined Lunyito High School, Kakamega in 2006 to 2007 then moved to Kibisi High School, Bungoma, in 2008 to 2009 where he sat his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination.

Due to financial restraints, he was unable to further his studies, so he moved to Eldoret to hustle in order to provide for himself, his mother and younger brother. 

The hustle

“I did any kind of job that came my way. I have hustled for my shilling since I was 12 years.

I couldn’t depend on my mum because she wasn’t working. I have been a tout, a hawker, and have done mjengo work, done photography, but above all that, I loved beauty; it is something I had always been passionate about.

But as a career, it began in 2002 when I was living with my cousin who owned and ran a barber shop,” intimates the businessman. 

Even as he struggled in life, passion for beauty kept him pushing up the ladder and today, he is not only the founder and CEO of Empire Dreadlock, but also one of the most sought after loctician in the county. 

Aside from hair, his other passion is service to the community. This, he has done by starting the Beautiful Souls Movement in Mombasa.

The movement, which started with only four members in 2016 has today grown to over 80 members focused on bringing some sunshine to the lives of orphans by doing round visits to orphanages in Mombasa every month. 

As Christopher shares, most of the members of the community were drawn to join him in this line of service because they understand just how much community love can change or positively influence a child’s future, especially being a primary beneficiary of this kind of love and support. 

“Many of us come from poor backgrounds. I grew up relying on the community for food and clothes.

Even for my education, my community came through for me. Many members in the movement are people I have talked to, listened to their background stories and it’s almost the same as mine.

I have others who grew up in orphanages and they feel motivated to do this. We feel and have felt what they are feeling, we understand their challenges and this is enough to make us want to give them and give them a little hope for the future,” he shares. 

A larger family

Beautiful Souls Movement was founded in 2016 when the members started visiting children’s homes.

Due to financial and time constraints they could only do it once or twice a year.

The four members of the group led by Christopher came up with an idea of giving back to the society, and decided to focus on children because unlike adults, children have a long way to go.

They have the potential, bigger dreams and they are in the best time in life to pursue them. 

Their main activities include donating food items, stationeries, new and slightly used clothes and shoes that are either bought or collected from friends and other well-wishers.

Their visits also include cleaning, playing and dancing with the children, and feeding street families while empowering and mentoring them. 

“We have created enough activities to give us an opportunity to bond with the children in the orphanages and also the street families.

This makes a stronger bond between us as a larger family, like for instance cooking together, playing and dancing.

We educate and counsel them, motivate and encourage them in their journeys,” shares the founder of the group.

The group depends solely on contributions from the members, and while it might be a challenge meeting all the needs of the children, their aim is to grow to a level that they can help many of the less privileged in our society.

“Our dream is to have a home or station where we can operate from. Give more children love and opportunities to grow and explore their talents and dreams.

It should be much easier to nurture them from there,” shares the entrepreneur.