Улаанбаатар
Coffee shop with visually impaired staff opens
Society
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Today, the Siloam Center for the Blind of South Korea in cooperation with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) opened the ‘Cafe more’, the first coffee shop that hires people with visual impairment, at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection in order to provide baristas with visual impairments with stable job.
During the opening ceremony, board member of the Mongolian National Federation of the Blind and director of the Vocational Training and Production Center Mr. B.Ganzorig mentioned that the experience of people with visual impairments making coffee first appeared in Korea. “We have contacted the organization that has implemented this project in Korea and requested to implement it in Mongolia. In this regard, the center established the coffee shop with assistance from the Government of Korea,” he said.
The staff of the coffee shop has been trained since April last year and currently it is operating with four workers and a manager.
“We started the project with the KOICA’s assistance last year and have trained 16 people in Mongolia. We opened the coffee shop to remove misconception about disabled people in the workplace. In the future, we will diligently work to create a new vision for visually impaired people,” said head of the department at the Siloam Center for the Blind Jan Ying Geyong.
President of the Mongolian National Federation of the Blind D.Gerel said that the coffee shop is rent-free and that the staff will be paid with the minimum wage and certain amount of the daily income as specified in the contract.
“We will open our next coffee shops soon. It will be a great support for us if the Government and other organizations provide with the opportunity to set up our coffee shops at their places and enjoy the coffee made by our staff,” she said.
Although the opening ceremony of the coffee shop was held today, ‘Cafe more’ opened a month ago and officials of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection has already became familiar with the place. They said that the coffee made by people with visual impairment is tasty and that they are glad for the new opportunities opened for those people.
During the opening ceremony, board member of the Mongolian National Federation of the Blind and director of the Vocational Training and Production Center Mr. B.Ganzorig mentioned that the experience of people with visual impairments making coffee first appeared in Korea. “We have contacted the organization that has implemented this project in Korea and requested to implement it in Mongolia. In this regard, the center established the coffee shop with assistance from the Government of Korea,” he said.
The staff of the coffee shop has been trained since April last year and currently it is operating with four workers and a manager.
“We started the project with the KOICA’s assistance last year and have trained 16 people in Mongolia. We opened the coffee shop to remove misconception about disabled people in the workplace. In the future, we will diligently work to create a new vision for visually impaired people,” said head of the department at the Siloam Center for the Blind Jan Ying Geyong.
President of the Mongolian National Federation of the Blind D.Gerel said that the coffee shop is rent-free and that the staff will be paid with the minimum wage and certain amount of the daily income as specified in the contract.
“We will open our next coffee shops soon. It will be a great support for us if the Government and other organizations provide with the opportunity to set up our coffee shops at their places and enjoy the coffee made by our staff,” she said.
Although the opening ceremony of the coffee shop was held today, ‘Cafe more’ opened a month ago and officials of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection has already became familiar with the place. They said that the coffee made by people with visual impairment is tasty and that they are glad for the new opportunities opened for those people.
B.Misheel
