Myanmar Mix

Tea leaf salads and chicken curries are flowing from the kitchen, but Able Café is noticeably quieter than other Yangon eateries.

The gentle atmosphere comes from its six staff who are deaf or hard of hearing. Customers give their orders by pointing at dishes on the menu or with the odd bit of Myanmar sign language.

For two of the team, Able Café is their first employer—people with disabilities have historically been shunned from the workforce in Myanmar.

But head chef Ye Lwin Oo, 33, is an old hand at cooking, having cut his teeth in the kitchen of fine-dining restaurant Le Planteur.

“This is home for me now, this is my family,” he told Myanmar Mix through a translator. “I’m very happy to be working here.”

Opened three weeks ago, the café’s entrance is marked by small black writing on a white façade. A short climb up some stairs reveals a light switch to attract the attention of staff inside.

The space is split into an enclave of floor seats surrounded by bookshelves along with pretty wall paintings, and a larger section of wooden tables and chairs, which also features books.

Two of the four founders run an online bookstore; on Friday (September 6) at 6.30pm the cafe will host a “silent book club” where attendees read for an hour and then share their thoughts.

Co-founder Myo Kyaw Thu, 30, who also works in finance, saw similar concepts abroad, which encouraged him to “show people it could work here.”

“If more people become inspired by this, more employers will hire people with disabilities,” he said. “It will be good for the disabled community.”

Attitudes towards hiring disabled people are shifting as companies wake up to the untapped potential of this demographic.

In December a Japanese-Myanmar partnership published an employer guidebook on hiring staff after the government released regulations for a law that aims to create job opportunities for disabled people.

But Myo Kyaw Thu says some firms hire disabled workers purely for tax incentives until “the business is not doing well, then they fire them.”

Expressed in the rainbow-coloured stairs leading to the mezzanine and the café’s tagline, “Embracing differences, empowering inclusivity,” Myo Kyaw Thu set out to create a café that welcomes everyone in society.

The prices are just as inclusive: fruit juices and coffee are 1,000-2,500 kyats, Myanmar classics are 2,000-4,000 kyats, and fancier meals such as steamed sea bass with lime sauce are 10,000 kyats.

But beyond its message of empowerment, Able Cafe is simply a cozy spot to enjoy a coffee and—because of its soft ambience—a book.

You may even learn some Myanmar sign language before you leave, though if you want a head start, check out the video below.