The mother and daughter behind Darwin’s only African hair salon

When Christine Kute arrived in Darwin from Nairobi as a teenager, she noticed two things: the stifling heat, and the struggle to find a hairdresser willing to style her hair.

“Even just going to a hairdresser to get a haircut, they would be afraid to actually accept your booking because they were not experienced with our Afro hair texture,” she said.

The Kutes came to Darwin as refugees in 2004.

Their mother, Jean, was left widowed with six children after her husband was killed in an accident back home.

His death left the family with no income to continue the children’s education in Africa, and Jean made the move to Australia so her kids could finish school.

Christine Kute says her father’s death left her as “the father of the family” when…