Every monthly visit to have her coils chemically straightened at the hair salon was traumatic.
“I couldn't stand the pain. Every time they applied the relaxer, I'd scream as it burned my scalp. While my younger sister left with beautiful hair, they couldn't even comb mine because I'd be crying so badly, and they had to stop,” Lufuno Nemakonde tells Drum.
Every month, she faced this cycle of agony, often with little sympathy from those around her. She made attempts to avoid relaxers, but, despite her discomfort, Lufuno's family relied on chemical relaxers to maintain her hair.
