Miss-Delectable
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Business - Veggie snack stall haven for hearing impaired - INQUIRER.net
Social Economics works for a small vegetarian food stand here.
The owner of “Dieta Verde” has been hiring hearing-impaired employees to prepare the freshest vegetarian menu in town, combining enterprise with social advocacy.
Belen Padua, the shop’s 53-year-old proprietor, is raising a deaf child, and her commitment helped her understand that physically-challenged adults can thrive in a routine work environment.
Customers who chance upon the food stall at the third floor of the Porta Vaga mall here are directed to a poster, which features the easiest sign language guides.
The poster shows how anyone unfamiliar with the deaf community can communicate his or her orders to employees, some of whom are training here for their food and beverage university courses.
Dieta Verde brands itself as a health outlet, so its deaf employees sell pasta dishes that are wrapped in healthy servings of vegetables and a smaller portion of chicken meat.
The salads feature fresh vegetables grown by Benguet farmers.
The students, who come in for a quick on-the-job experience, have adapted to the menu set up by Padua, a former pastry shop owner, said Maria Christina Francisco, resident dietician and nutritionist of Dieta Verde.
“When you hire people like them, you also empower them. I find it very fulfilling when we help people like them who want to work and contribute something to the business community,” Francisco said. “I am studying sign language to be able to communicate with them more because I also want to help them.”
Padua invested P80,000 in the food stall in 2007, pushed by her need to adopt a more healthy lifestyle following the discovery of her hypertension.
But it was her now 23-year-old daughter, Joanna Virginia Neri, who suggested bringing in deaf laborers.
Many of the deaf workers are friends of Neri at the San Lorenzo Ruiz Institute here.
Francisco said hiring the deaf was a noble sociological exercise, but it has its risks.
She said that she earns P1,000 to P5,000 daily, which is just enough income to keep the store running and to keep her deaf work crew.
“As a mother of a deaf child, I find it very fulfilling that I am able to provide jobs for those who are physically challenged in life. What this store earns is just enough. Most of the time, I just break even,” she said.
“But educating the people [about] healthy eating and at the same time giving a chance for the deaf to be employed is much more fulfilling,” she added.
Speaking in sign language, Amy Manacnis, 22, a Dieta Verde employee, said she has managed to juggle work and her studies.
“I feel so fine here and very happy. I am working, but at the same time, I am having fun because I am able to mingle with people. I am even happier when people who order food from us learn our language in the process,” she said.
Employees who talk in sign language have piqued the interest of many customers, who have approached Padua about other livelihood projects that suit the deaf community.
Padua said her employees recently went through a crash course in soap making, courtesy of a customer.
“I encourage other business establishments to hire people like them and provide skills training so they could work and earn. For the [physically challenged] people, they can put up their own business, too, by grouping together,” Padua said.
Social Economics works for a small vegetarian food stand here.
The owner of “Dieta Verde” has been hiring hearing-impaired employees to prepare the freshest vegetarian menu in town, combining enterprise with social advocacy.
Belen Padua, the shop’s 53-year-old proprietor, is raising a deaf child, and her commitment helped her understand that physically-challenged adults can thrive in a routine work environment.
Customers who chance upon the food stall at the third floor of the Porta Vaga mall here are directed to a poster, which features the easiest sign language guides.
The poster shows how anyone unfamiliar with the deaf community can communicate his or her orders to employees, some of whom are training here for their food and beverage university courses.
Dieta Verde brands itself as a health outlet, so its deaf employees sell pasta dishes that are wrapped in healthy servings of vegetables and a smaller portion of chicken meat.
The salads feature fresh vegetables grown by Benguet farmers.
The students, who come in for a quick on-the-job experience, have adapted to the menu set up by Padua, a former pastry shop owner, said Maria Christina Francisco, resident dietician and nutritionist of Dieta Verde.
“When you hire people like them, you also empower them. I find it very fulfilling when we help people like them who want to work and contribute something to the business community,” Francisco said. “I am studying sign language to be able to communicate with them more because I also want to help them.”
Padua invested P80,000 in the food stall in 2007, pushed by her need to adopt a more healthy lifestyle following the discovery of her hypertension.
But it was her now 23-year-old daughter, Joanna Virginia Neri, who suggested bringing in deaf laborers.
Many of the deaf workers are friends of Neri at the San Lorenzo Ruiz Institute here.
Francisco said hiring the deaf was a noble sociological exercise, but it has its risks.
She said that she earns P1,000 to P5,000 daily, which is just enough income to keep the store running and to keep her deaf work crew.
“As a mother of a deaf child, I find it very fulfilling that I am able to provide jobs for those who are physically challenged in life. What this store earns is just enough. Most of the time, I just break even,” she said.
“But educating the people [about] healthy eating and at the same time giving a chance for the deaf to be employed is much more fulfilling,” she added.
Speaking in sign language, Amy Manacnis, 22, a Dieta Verde employee, said she has managed to juggle work and her studies.
“I feel so fine here and very happy. I am working, but at the same time, I am having fun because I am able to mingle with people. I am even happier when people who order food from us learn our language in the process,” she said.
Employees who talk in sign language have piqued the interest of many customers, who have approached Padua about other livelihood projects that suit the deaf community.
Padua said her employees recently went through a crash course in soap making, courtesy of a customer.
“I encourage other business establishments to hire people like them and provide skills training so they could work and earn. For the [physically challenged] people, they can put up their own business, too, by grouping together,” Padua said.