Zeng Zheng is a hearing-impaired barista (听障咖啡师) in Chongqing. Together with several hearing-impaired people, he works at a coffee shop named Yijiao Cafe, which located at Songshan General Hospital. The name of the coffee shop was inspired by a famous children’s book called The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein. The moral (寓意) of the story is that one can find happiness by accepting one’s imperfections.
Zhu Jiayun founded the coffee shop in May 2022. In September 2022, Yijiao started a free barista training program for the hearing-impaired. The program attracted Zeng and others who used to live a hard life and tried many jobs. Four out of the 15 people were then chosen to work at the coffee shop by Zhu after a strict examination. In the same month, the first Yijiao Cafe shop, located in Yuzhong district, opened its doors.
In February 2023, the second coffee shop opened in Songshan General Hospital. In just a month, the new coffee shop sold more than 3,700 cups of coffee. For every 10 yuan made by the store, 0.1 yuan is given away to others in need, said Zhu.
Zhu plans to open three more coffee shops in 2023. “I hope that Yijiao Cafe is more than just a coffee shop, but can also serve as a model space, where the healthy people and disabled people can make coffee, drink coffee, or live and work together,” Zhu said.
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