Move over, October, it’s Movember

That time of year has arrived‚ when everyone from your barista to your butcher is sporting bushels of bushy facial hair. It’s Movember!

In Cape Town the month-long celebration and awareness campaign officially kicked off on Wednesday at the Gallows Hill Driving Licence Testing Centre‚ as some of the city's finest took their turn in the barber chair and watched their moustaches disappear courtesy of the coincidentally named Jonny Razor.

The idea is to start clean shaven and grow a moustache from scratch.

For some of the participants‚ it was the first time someone else had shaved their facial hair‚ and for Inspector Sizwe Siyo‚ it was the first time anyone had shaved his moustache.

“It feels weird right now‚ but I’m excited to see the moustache grow back soon‚” Siyo‚ a metro cop‚ said.

However‚ this event is more than just joviality. All the proceeds from Movember go towards men’s health organisations‚ and the whole month is geared around raising awareness for testicular and prostate cancer.

Not many have a more personal connection to these issues than Cape Town fire fighter Tim Hart. A Stage 2 testicular cancer survivor‚ Hart appreciates the ideas that Movember represents.

“It’s all about education and getting awareness out there‚” Hart said.

“Men like to bottle stuff up and not talk about when they’re hurting‚ but the more we talk about these issues and say that they really are normal‚ the more we can possibly save lives.”

- Namaste is on an SIT Study Abroad programme. He wrote this story in association with Round Earth Media - TimesLIVE