Feature: Displaced open-air barber in Aleppo offers free haircuts to orphans

After losing his barbershop in Aleppo's raging war, Mahmoud Abla, who has been a barber for 27 years, became an open-air barber.

Despite his hardships, Abla is still offering free haircuts for the orphans and pre-war haircut prices for the poor.

When the war hit his neighborhood in the Masaken Hanano area in the countryside of the northern province of Aleppo, the 47-year-old sought refuge inside Aleppo city.

"When I fled my area, I came to Aleppo, but I had nothing to do, with no income whatsoever," he told Xinhua.

A friend told him to be an open-air barber at the famous time-honored Sabil Park in the city to earn a living to raise his daughter and four sons.

However, being an open-air barber was embarrassing in the beginning, because it is unusual in Syria.

"At first I was so embarrassed, but later I became used to being an open-air barber," he said.

After two and a half years, the man has become famous at the park, especially among the poor.

"I am a poor person, but that doesn't make me a greedy man. I feel for the poor and displaced because I am one of them, and they have the right to look good and neat, in spite of their difficult situations," Abla said.

He promised the charges for haircuts won't be higher than the pre-war years.

"Until recently I took 100 Syrian pounds (0.20 U.S. dollars) for a haircut and face shaving, but now I have upped the price to 150, which was the cheapest haircut and face shaving ahead of the crisis five years ago," he said.

As for the children, it only costs them 75 pounds, which is near free of charge since the haircut prices have gone up at least tenfold since the beginning of the crisis.

Abla said he doesn't charge orphans who lost one parent or both during the war.

"I am the father of such children and I won't charge them, and that's something I have always done, even before the crisis," he said.

Abla's cheap services have won gratitude from his customers.

"I realized his prices were cheap and sometimes he does his job for free for those who don't have money. He is poor and he loves the poor," 71-year-old Hasan Hannoura said.

He said Abla is an example that should be followed, as people during the crisis need to help each other.

"Everybody now is having a hard time with this crisis. I personally would run a street stall if I have the chance to get money, because my pension doesn't suffice me," he said.

Abla is not the only one who seeks to have a small business, as the situation for the people in Aleppo is as tragic as in any other battered Syrian city.

A brokered truce that went into force across Syria on Monday has brought some peace in hard-hit cities, including Aleppo.

Both the government-controlled western areas and the rebel-held eastern ones in the city have witnessed a relative calm since then.

"I wish the truce could hold and succeed so that I can return to my home. Before the crisis our situation was fine," Abla said. Endit