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A Taste of Heaven Made by Angels with Broken Wings - Children are Us Bakery/ Restaurant / 品嚐折翼天使的認真好滋味──喜憨兒烘焙餐廳

A Taste of Heaven Made by Angels with Broken Wings- Children are Us Bakery Restaurant
Text & Photos by Jessica Lin

  The Children are Us Bakery Restaurant: Kaohsiung Fuhsin Branch is located at the corner of Fuhsin and Hsintien Roads. "Welcome", a child greets you with an angelic smile upon your arrival. The sunlit space immediately lightens everyone's mood. Bearing brisk colors, the restaurant is decorated with lovely drawings by mentally challenged children. Some children in the restaurant make sandwiches, some take orders, some bring dishes to the tables, and some work out bills for customers. Assigned to different tasks, they show the same conscientiousness to their work.

  Even though the mentally challenged children are not as clever, in terms of response and communication, as most people, they try twice as hard to offset congenital defects. The Children are Us Bakery Restaurant, organized by the Children are Us Foundation, has eleven branch stores. Six of them are in Kaohsiung, featuring distinctive characteristics.

品嚐折翼天使的認真好滋味─喜憨兒烘焙餐廳-照片  Headquartered in Kaohsiung, the Children are Us Foundation is a social welfare group aiming at helping people with Down syndrome, autism, and emotional disorder. The physical growth of the children with mental impediments appears to be faster than their mental progress, said Zhong-Qing Zhao, the Deputy Director of the Kaohsiung Administration Center. However, it doesn't mean that they do not have the ability to take their rightful place in society. Only through assistance designed to give them the ability to stand on their own feet, can they experience the happiness and respect that come from making their own unique contribution.
 
  On top of life training, the Foundation also provides vocational training courses to help the mentally challenged develop necessary skills to earn a livelihood. Meanwhile, bakeries, restaurants, and gardening teams are set up one after another. Children can make money on their own; some of them are even hired by companies and trusted with important positions.

  Meals, pastry, and gardening works provided by the mentally challenged are carefully assessed and proved to be competitive in the marketplace. This is why Children are Us Bakery Restaurants and gardening teams can operate for such a long time. They even establish a long-term working relationship with the government. The gardening of the Lotus Pond and the meals served at President Chen's inaugural party are both entrusted to them. Deputy Director Zhao indicated that setting up restaurants and gardening teams could bring people to witness their improvement, further accept and identify with them.

  The Children are Us Foundation will start up a care unit in the future. In addition to caring for the disadvantaged, consumers always have the choice to enjoy a taste of heaven at the Children are Us Bakery Restaurant.

品嚐折翼天使的認真好滋味─喜憨兒烘焙餐廳   文‧攝影/林昀熹

  走進位於復興路、新田路口的喜憨兒烘焙餐廳──高雄復興餐坊,一個孩子滿臉笑容、認真地向你說:「歡迎光臨!」讓人的心情就像這個充滿陽光的空間一樣明朗起來。牆壁上張掛著喜憨兒可愛的畫作,在清新的色調中,店裡其他孩子有的做三明治、有的點餐、有的送餐、有的結帳......,分配到的工作不一樣,態度與神情卻都一樣地認真專注。

  雖然喜憨兒的反應與表達能力不像一般人來得靈敏,然而他們用加倍的努力彌補了先天的不足。由「喜憨兒社會福利基金會」所籌辦的喜憨兒烘焙餐廳,在全國已有十一個據點,高雄市內就有六家,並且各有各的特色。

  總部就設在高雄市的「喜憨兒社會福利基金會」,是針對唐式症、自閉症與情緒障礙者所設立的社福團體,高雄行政中心社服部副主任趙忠慶表示,喜憨兒的心理往往跟不上生理的成長,然而並不代表他們沒有能力對社會有貢獻,同時,讓他們有自立的能力,才能幫助他們活得更快樂、更有尊嚴。

  因此基金會除了給予喜憨兒生活訓練,也著重謀生技能的培養;目前基金會設有職業訓練班,同時也陸續開設了烘焙坊、餐廳以及園藝工作隊。孩子們不但可以學會靠著自己的雙手賺取生活所需,有些表現不錯的孩子,則被聘僱到一般企業工作,受到老闆器重。

  喜憨兒所製做的餐點、餅乾或是園藝工作,都是經過評比,品質在市場上相當具有競爭力,這也是喜憨兒的烘焙餐廳或園藝工作隊之所以可以長久經營的最主要原因。甚至還長期與政府單位合作,像是蓮池潭的園藝工作、阿扁總統就職餐會的餐點等,都是由喜憨兒工作隊來承接的呢!趙副主任說,成立餐廳與園藝工作隊另一個功能也是要讓大家在與喜憨兒的互動中,看到他們的成長,進而能夠接納、認同他們。

  「喜憨兒社會福利基金會」未來還將發展終身照護的機制,消費者別忘了在這城市的許多角落,不但有許多的弱勢朋友需要我們關懷,也有許多由喜憨兒提供的美味餐點可以選擇喔!