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The following is the story of the Garden Cafe in my town in the Philippines. Though Jagna's Garden Cafe isn't listed, it's there. Working there is the prettiest little waitess, spirited woman. She can't speak or hear because she has a problem with her ears. Other workers there have ear problems and cleft pallet, which I'm not sure but I think is when the roof of the mouth is open straight to the sinus...again, I'm not sure. Anyway, it's operable, so are many of the ear problems. Such operations are cheap in the Philippines. Honestly I don't know how much, but I once spent three days in a private room in a private hosital, had 3 doctors and nurses coming in constantly to make sure I was OK. Well, I knew they were laying it on thick to hit me pretty hard in the wallet, and they were nervous when they told me the charge...the equivelent of $200! I put it in their hands with a smile... Here in the US it would be thousands.
Back to the point...
It's $10 a day for a clean aircon room at the Cafe. If anyone were interested in changing someones life, go there and stay. Find someone of the crew there and take them to the doctor. Likely for a few hundred you can bring them sound or speach.
My brother in law can meet you at Cebu international airport and see you to the Cafe, and help you out while there. It's a great culture. Go in May or Septenber and enjoy fiesta.
Pacesetters
08/01/2002
Pacesetters
Ethel Soliven. Timbol
GARDEN CAFE OF BOHOL. They have never heard a bird sing or a baby cry nor in fact, a car screech or a street drill. Noise is alien to them because they have never heard the sound of it. In that sense the deaf are luckier than us.
On the other hand, the chances of a person with hearing disability to earn a living are virtually nil in the hearing world, specially in Philippine society. For a disabled person to get a good education is virtually impossible since our schools are ill equipped to handle handicapped students. There are organizations and foundations which provide assistance to the disabled but the “help” usually stops after graduation. Few companies will hire the handicapped... alas!
Well...hear, hear! Discover the Garden Cafe of Bohol. This popular eatery on #8 J.S. Torralba, a main thoroughfare in Tagbilaran, is run by deaf people. Founded almost 20 years ago, as a small bamboo food stall, the Garden Cafe is frequented by students, businesss folks, hungry tourists like ourselves, and just about everybody with an appetite.
On the menu are the standard fastfood delights such as pancit of every sort, pizzas, sandwiches, soups and salads, desserts and beverages. The difference is that the food is good and the prices incredibly cheap. For instance, a full sized pizza goes for R125, a generous serving of pancit for half that price, and black forest cake at R45 a slice!
The manager, Teresita Reformina, is one of only two employes who can hear. Everybody else, including the cooks, are deaf. The cooks, such as 40 year old Leo Epe – a deaf mute, were trained by the cafe’s first chef Marcos Cusas.
Diners are handed the menu and an order slip to write their choices on. All the servers can read (a requirement) English and Cebuano. It’s amazing, though, how quickly one learns to use sign language to indicate that you need a glass, a spoon, napkin, atbp.
Service is fast and friendly. Though they can’t hear you, the deaf servers know when they’ve pleased a customer by the latter’s smiles. At this cafe, there are 46 employes, including bus boys, working two shifts daily.
According to Reformina, the Garden Cafe is a flagship project of the Bohol Foundation for the Deaf which also runs another Garden Cafe in Dau, also in Bohol. The foundation also operates a hostel–type Dau Diamond Pensione, a favorite venue for live–in seminars and workshops and popular stop for travelling groups. Bed and breakfast, we are told, go for R900 a room for four persons.
The foundation was started by a Peace Corps volunteer, Dennis Drake, currently its president, who saw the need to open doors for the deaf citizens of Bohol. Unfortunately we were unable to meet Drake but the story of how the deaf of Bohol have been blessed with benefactors such as Consuela Zobel Alger of the Ayala Foundation, is an inspiring one.
The foundation supports students at the SPED Learning Centers in collaboration with IDEA (International Deaf Education Association) in five cities and towns of Bohol. Employment is assured for graduates with hearing disability at the restaurants and hostel where business is booming, thanks to the employes’ hard work and devotion.
We are reminded of the restaurant in Luneta which used to run by the deaf and mute during the 1970s to 80s. Due to poor management and hard knocks, the eatery was run aground and eventually closed. Where could its employes have gone?
If we could bring the Garden Cafe management to set up at Luneta where the old eatery used to be, it would be a novelty while providing jobs for the deaf and for other disabled Filipinos.
Back to the point...
It's $10 a day for a clean aircon room at the Cafe. If anyone were interested in changing someones life, go there and stay. Find someone of the crew there and take them to the doctor. Likely for a few hundred you can bring them sound or speach.
My brother in law can meet you at Cebu international airport and see you to the Cafe, and help you out while there. It's a great culture. Go in May or Septenber and enjoy fiesta.
Pacesetters
08/01/2002
Pacesetters
Ethel Soliven. Timbol
GARDEN CAFE OF BOHOL. They have never heard a bird sing or a baby cry nor in fact, a car screech or a street drill. Noise is alien to them because they have never heard the sound of it. In that sense the deaf are luckier than us.
On the other hand, the chances of a person with hearing disability to earn a living are virtually nil in the hearing world, specially in Philippine society. For a disabled person to get a good education is virtually impossible since our schools are ill equipped to handle handicapped students. There are organizations and foundations which provide assistance to the disabled but the “help” usually stops after graduation. Few companies will hire the handicapped... alas!
Well...hear, hear! Discover the Garden Cafe of Bohol. This popular eatery on #8 J.S. Torralba, a main thoroughfare in Tagbilaran, is run by deaf people. Founded almost 20 years ago, as a small bamboo food stall, the Garden Cafe is frequented by students, businesss folks, hungry tourists like ourselves, and just about everybody with an appetite.
On the menu are the standard fastfood delights such as pancit of every sort, pizzas, sandwiches, soups and salads, desserts and beverages. The difference is that the food is good and the prices incredibly cheap. For instance, a full sized pizza goes for R125, a generous serving of pancit for half that price, and black forest cake at R45 a slice!
The manager, Teresita Reformina, is one of only two employes who can hear. Everybody else, including the cooks, are deaf. The cooks, such as 40 year old Leo Epe – a deaf mute, were trained by the cafe’s first chef Marcos Cusas.
Diners are handed the menu and an order slip to write their choices on. All the servers can read (a requirement) English and Cebuano. It’s amazing, though, how quickly one learns to use sign language to indicate that you need a glass, a spoon, napkin, atbp.
Service is fast and friendly. Though they can’t hear you, the deaf servers know when they’ve pleased a customer by the latter’s smiles. At this cafe, there are 46 employes, including bus boys, working two shifts daily.
According to Reformina, the Garden Cafe is a flagship project of the Bohol Foundation for the Deaf which also runs another Garden Cafe in Dau, also in Bohol. The foundation also operates a hostel–type Dau Diamond Pensione, a favorite venue for live–in seminars and workshops and popular stop for travelling groups. Bed and breakfast, we are told, go for R900 a room for four persons.
The foundation was started by a Peace Corps volunteer, Dennis Drake, currently its president, who saw the need to open doors for the deaf citizens of Bohol. Unfortunately we were unable to meet Drake but the story of how the deaf of Bohol have been blessed with benefactors such as Consuela Zobel Alger of the Ayala Foundation, is an inspiring one.
The foundation supports students at the SPED Learning Centers in collaboration with IDEA (International Deaf Education Association) in five cities and towns of Bohol. Employment is assured for graduates with hearing disability at the restaurants and hostel where business is booming, thanks to the employes’ hard work and devotion.
We are reminded of the restaurant in Luneta which used to run by the deaf and mute during the 1970s to 80s. Due to poor management and hard knocks, the eatery was run aground and eventually closed. Where could its employes have gone?
If we could bring the Garden Cafe management to set up at Luneta where the old eatery used to be, it would be a novelty while providing jobs for the deaf and for other disabled Filipinos.
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