Mariposa
“Lao Chu Workshop” was established in November, 2007. The main goal is to give handicapped students an opportunity to learn. There are the coffee workshop and the bakery section. Students have to work together to put in the ingredients, watch the scale, rub the dough, mix the ingredients, design the shapes, put the stuffing in, and bake the food, etc. Also, teachers assist them by their side, keeping an eye on their safety. Rubbing the dough is an interesting thing, because it makes students exercise their fingers and stimulates their brains.
Teachers will teach them over and over again until they’re familiar with the operating procedures. Students with better number concepts are responsible for measuring the weight of ingredients. By doing this, they get to find out their specialty and potential, which paves the way for their future after they graduate. Currently there is one student who has become an assistant teacher and has learned to mix drinks after he left here. The bread left without being sold during the day is sent to Tsu Sheng, and employees will buy them there. In addition, we even make handmade cookies and cake to sell. Students are proud of working here, and they become more nimble physically. They grow a lot.
The Terms of Being the Working Partner in Lao Chu Workshop—Evaluating students who are healthy and enthusiastic, we train them through related courses which provide a good place to learn. Students can get close with the crowd and learn the attitudes to serve others there. As long as they are applauded by customers, they will be pleased. Whenever we see them smile, we think they’re happy here.
Cih-Sheng.
Initially our efforts and time were in vain because some students couldn’t even read numbers or speak, and others couldn’t say the name of the dishes. Then we switched to teach their concept of number by using number cards. Like teaching children, we start from phonetic symbols and easy words for fear that they might send the dishes to the wrong tables. Moreover, we make schedules by cards of pictures and words.
Whenever they finish some work, they tear off a card. We came up with this method because they couldn’t work successively. Teachers watch their progress and check the results afterwards. At the first time teachers will do with the students, leading them hand by hand. It’s open and humane. The teachers see the students as their children and teach them about the foods and how to pick them up.
The Obstacles and Resolutions of Managing Lao Chu Workshop—Sometimes students are in a temper and suddenly quit working. We must understand the reasons. Those who aren’t capable of expressing themselves will use cards to communicate, and then we will help them solve the problems. Though they develop more slowly than average people, they still have self-esteem, and they need to be valued and recognized.
Therefore, we have to correct their behaviors and manners, teach them to respect one another and to speak quietly, guide their life manners, and make them used to saying “please, thank you, and sorry”. They were timid at first. After training them for a month or two, they finally pluck up their courage to speak. We hope they can learn to talk as general restaurants required. “Learning through doing” suggests that only by having real experiences will it be impressive to them.
Cih-Sheng.
Students go to work at eight a.m. every day. Temperatures are taken three times to ensure they are in good physical conditions to work. After they get off duty, they go back to their dormitories to rest and share their experiences of their work. During working hours, they may clean or sweep the environment, training their body movements, concentration, physical strength; they may also decorate the plates, arrange the materials or even cook some safe dishes such as fried eggs, fried rice and steamed buns.
Teachers either help beside them or let them try themselves and correct them afterwards. As for the process of delivering the food and washing dishes, students are required to review the procedures after some time lest they forget. Works related to the fire and knifes are banned, and students can only watch and learn. We hope they can take care of themselves in the future without relying on anyone.
The Customers’Opinions on Students in Lao Chu Workshop—About twenty percent of the customers don’t know that they are handicapped students, so trivial complains are unavoidable. Yet we will hold meetings to reflect and resolve problems afterwards, and we try our best to teach students how to deal with emergency. Most customers understand their special conditions, showing understanding for them, forgiving them, praising them, and even giving them small gifts.
However, we thank them without taking the gifts because we don’t want them spoiled. I remember once there was a student who happened to stain the jacket of a customer. We taught him how to deal with it and change the position of his hands to avoid making the mistake again. Also, we taught him to apologize and pay attention to safety.
The Making of Food and Dishes in Lao Chu Workshop—Most of the food here is made by our students. Some teachers guide the students to cook it. Other easier ones are made on their own, and classmates often learn from one another. The works are divided according to abilities.
The Sources of Food and Quality Control in Lao Chu Workshop—There are some vegetable sellers whom we buy food from. We make the list every night and ask the dietitian to estimate if it’s suitable. Provided that the quality isn’t good, we will tell the sellers and ask them to change until the food is correspond to the quality we want.
The Operating Conditions of Lao Chu Workshop—It’s more crowded in holidays or vacations, and there’re less people during week days. We have strict regulations on hardware equipment and environment, so the cost of operating is high. We invite teachers of the catering department to teach students here. Part of the students will learn some professional skills in the society before they work.
The Sources of Customers and Their Evaluation About Lao Chu Workshop—The dominant sources are the teachers and residents nearby. Most customers give us high appraisal. But we modify our menu to cater to the flavor of the masses, we invent new dishes, and we have different special dishes every day. We accept the opinions of the customers and we improve accordingly.
| What is Mariposa? (A) A movie theater (B) A restaurant |