On the 30th International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the faith-based Amity Foundation launched a public welfare live stream of a day of a baker with intellectual impairment.
To encourage the public to promote the awareness of mental disabilities, Amity released the live broadcast on December 3 with the title of “Going to Work with the Cuties”, recording the busy day of a little "cutie" (a term of endearment used for people who are intellectually impaired), Fufu, and other workers in the Amity Bakery.
Fufu is a young man aged about thirty. Due to mental disorders, his thinking and cognitive ability are only at a child-like level. But in the bakery, he is an all-rounder who is able to hold multiple jobs and can also lead the new trainees to get familiar with the work. With meticulousness and a sense of responsibility, he has been recognized by many colleagues and customers, and is known as “Mr. Fu”.
At 9 o’clock in the morning, Fufu had already prepared the working lunch for the day and set off for work after saying goodbye to his mother.
It takes 13 or 14 stops of the bus to get to the bakery, and Fufu can accurately recall the name of each stop along the route. It is almost second nature to him to know which direction the bus will turn at each intersection. In fact, he usually takes the subway, but for the live broadcast, he chose the bus. On the bus, he took out his mobile phone to play Chinese string-up puzzles and other small games to kill time.
After nearly an hour’s ride, he finally arrived at the Amity Bakery on Youfuxi Street, Qinhuai District, Nanjing City.
In the store, a trainer of the Amity Home of Blessings was teaching the new students to identify bread categories. Compared with healthy people, these "cuties" with mental disablities are relatively limited in memory and recognition ability, so it is necessary for the trainers to explain the shape and appearance of bread in general and detailed language and guide them patiently to help them establish a solid memory.
Fufu soon changed into his work clothes and explained to his audience watching the live broadcast about the store’s products, from cookies to various flavors of bread.
Next, as the arrival of the express order came through, the students began the distribution process in the store under the guidance of the trainer and the orderly division of labor. In the process, he called out the items that the orders needed, and the other cuties quickly took the corresponding pastries off the shelves.
Then, they would take the goods to the second floor for packing boxes. In ordinary people’s eyes, it is easy to pack the express box, but it is not easy for the cuties who lack hand-eye coordination. At present, only Fufu and another trainee in the shop are relatively skilled at completing the packing. Wrapping tape, cutting bubble wrap... It usually takes more than ten minutes to pack a box.
“Although the efficiency of the packaging is slower than healthy people, every sent box carries their efforts. We hope that you can adopt the form of 'buying instead of donating' to support our trainees. This can not only support the operation of our bakery but also help students to constantly exercise their coordination ability of hand and brain,” said the trainer at the bakery.
In the final cookie-making process, trainees finished the original-flavor cookie with the help of trainers and bakers. Although the density of cookies on the plate varied in the end, their dedicated work won praise from many viewers watching the live broadcast.
In the live broadcast, Mr. Ren, one of the trainers, also introduced the process of how the trainees grew into qualified bakery employees:
Generally speaking, Amity Home of Blessings can be regarded as a “pre-job training base” of the bakery, where trainers evaluate the trainees in terms of intelligence, self-care ability, and social skills, as well as conduct targeted training. After systematic vocational training, trainees who can take care of themselves, consciously abide by social rules, have a certain psychological capacity, and work with strong initiative and enthusiasm can work in the bakery.
- Translated by Charlie Li
12月3日是第30个国际残疾人日，为鼓励社会公众提升对心智障碍人士的关注，爱德基金会于当日发起了“和喜憨儿一起上班去”主题公益直播活动，记录了就职于南京爱德面包坊的“喜憨儿”学员——符符的上班路以及面包坊学员们的忙碌日常。
符符是个80后的小伙子，由于心智障碍的缘故，他的思维认知能力只有孩童般的水平。在面包坊，他是能身兼多职的“全能手”，也是带领新学员熟悉工作的可靠前辈，凭借着超乎常人的细致与责任心，符符也获得了同事们与顾客的一致认可，被大家爱称为“符总”。
早上9点整，符早已准备好了一天的工作餐，在与妈妈告别后便踏上了上班的行程。
从家里到面包坊需要乘坐十三四站的公交，而符符却能准确说出线路名称以及行车的路线，甚至于在哪个路口需要往什么方向拐弯，他都能烂熟于心。而在路上，符符也向大家介绍了自己上班的日常：实际上，他平时更多会选择乘坐地铁，但为了今天的直播，便特意选择了公交。在车上时，他会拿出手机玩成语接龙等小游戏打发时间。
在近一个小时的乘车后，符符终于顺利抵达了位于南京市秦淮区游府西街的爱德面包坊。
进入店内，爱德慈佑院的一位老师正在带领还未正式上岗的新学员辨识面包品类，由于与健全人相比，“喜憨儿”们在记忆、辨识能力方面相对有限，因此就需要老师们从面包的形状、外观等方面进行通俗且详细的讲解，并对孩子们耐心的引导教学，才能帮助他们建立起坚实的记忆。
不一会儿，符符便换好了工作服，向观看直播的朋友们介绍起了店内的商品，小到曲奇，大到各式口味的面包。
紧接着，随着快递订单的到来，店里的“喜憨儿”学员们在辅导老师以及符符的带领下有序分工，开始了配货流程。过程中，符符按照订单向大家报出所需商品，其他学员迅速从货架上拿下对应糕点。
随后，大家一同将糕点拿上二楼进行打包装箱。在常人看来再简单不过的快递箱打包，对于手脑协调能力稍显欠缺的“喜憨儿”学员们而言却并非易事，目前店里也就仅有符符和另一位学员能够相对熟练的完成。缠胶带、剪气泡纸……用了十多分钟，一个箱子才打包完成。
“虽然打包的效率比起健全人慢了一些，但是每一份发出去的商品背后都承载着‘喜憨儿’学员们辛勤的汗水，也希望大家能够用‘以购代善’的形式支持我们的学员们，这样不仅能够支持我们面包坊的运营，也可以帮助学员们不断锻炼他们的手脑协调能力。”面包坊的辅导老师表示道。
在最后的曲奇制作过程中，学员们在老师以及烘焙师傅的帮助下先完成了原味曲奇的制作，虽然最终呈现盘中的曲奇饼密度不一，但大家专注的工作赢得了不少观看直播的观众的赞赏。
直播中，任老师还向大家介绍了“喜憨儿”学员是如何成长为一名合格的面包坊员工的过程：
一般来说，慈佑院可以算作面包坊的“岗前培训基地”，老师们会从智力、自理能力、社交技能等方面对“喜憨儿”学员进行评估，同时进行针对性的训练。在经过系统的职业训练后，能够做到生活自理，自觉遵守社交规则、有一定的心理承受能力，有较强的工作主动性与积极性的孩子就可以进入面包坊参加工作。
“和喜憨儿一起上班去”——爱德基金会国际残疾人日公益直播小记
On the 30th International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the faith-based Amity Foundation launched a public welfare live stream of a day of a baker with intellectual impairment.
To encourage the public to promote the awareness of mental disabilities, Amity released the live broadcast on December 3 with the title of “Going to Work with the Cuties”, recording the busy day of a little "cutie" (a term of endearment used for people who are intellectually impaired), Fufu, and other workers in the Amity Bakery.
Fufu is a young man aged about thirty. Due to mental disorders, his thinking and cognitive ability are only at a child-like level. But in the bakery, he is an all-rounder who is able to hold multiple jobs and can also lead the new trainees to get familiar with the work. With meticulousness and a sense of responsibility, he has been recognized by many colleagues and customers, and is known as “Mr. Fu”.
At 9 o’clock in the morning, Fufu had already prepared the working lunch for the day and set off for work after saying goodbye to his mother.
It takes 13 or 14 stops of the bus to get to the bakery, and Fufu can accurately recall the name of each stop along the route. It is almost second nature to him to know which direction the bus will turn at each intersection. In fact, he usually takes the subway, but for the live broadcast, he chose the bus. On the bus, he took out his mobile phone to play Chinese string-up puzzles and other small games to kill time.
After nearly an hour’s ride, he finally arrived at the Amity Bakery on Youfuxi Street, Qinhuai District, Nanjing City.
In the store, a trainer of the Amity Home of Blessings was teaching the new students to identify bread categories. Compared with healthy people, these "cuties" with mental disablities are relatively limited in memory and recognition ability, so it is necessary for the trainers to explain the shape and appearance of bread in general and detailed language and guide them patiently to help them establish a solid memory.
Fufu soon changed into his work clothes and explained to his audience watching the live broadcast about the store’s products, from cookies to various flavors of bread.
Next, as the arrival of the express order came through, the students began the distribution process in the store under the guidance of the trainer and the orderly division of labor. In the process, he called out the items that the orders needed, and the other cuties quickly took the corresponding pastries off the shelves.
Then, they would take the goods to the second floor for packing boxes. In ordinary people’s eyes, it is easy to pack the express box, but it is not easy for the cuties who lack hand-eye coordination. At present, only Fufu and another trainee in the shop are relatively skilled at completing the packing. Wrapping tape, cutting bubble wrap... It usually takes more than ten minutes to pack a box.
“Although the efficiency of the packaging is slower than healthy people, every sent box carries their efforts. We hope that you can adopt the form of 'buying instead of donating' to support our trainees. This can not only support the operation of our bakery but also help students to constantly exercise their coordination ability of hand and brain,” said the trainer at the bakery.
In the final cookie-making process, trainees finished the original-flavor cookie with the help of trainers and bakers. Although the density of cookies on the plate varied in the end, their dedicated work won praise from many viewers watching the live broadcast.
In the live broadcast, Mr. Ren, one of the trainers, also introduced the process of how the trainees grew into qualified bakery employees:
Generally speaking, Amity Home of Blessings can be regarded as a “pre-job training base” of the bakery, where trainers evaluate the trainees in terms of intelligence, self-care ability, and social skills, as well as conduct targeted training. After systematic vocational training, trainees who can take care of themselves, consciously abide by social rules, have a certain psychological capacity, and work with strong initiative and enthusiasm can work in the bakery.
- Translated by Charlie Li
One-Day Work Record of Baker With Intellectual Disabilities at Amity Foundation
