All-dwarf cafe in upmarket Cairo proves a hit with patrons

Cairo: A metal tray in one hand and a shisha (water pipe) in another, Islam briskly moves around to serve customers at the first coffee shop manned by dwarves in Egypt.

"This is the only place where I find nothing wrong with me being a shortie," said Islam, 21.

"Customers who come here do not mock us. They are pleased that we serve them efficiently and so are we," he told Gulf News.

The idea of establishing the café in the fashionable area of Nasr City on Cairo suburbs is the brainchild of Ahmad Al Kilani, a lawyer.

He recalls that one day he ran into a friend of Islam, who complained that he had been sacked from his job as a mechanic as he was short. "I thought that the best way to help him and his fellow dwarves was to start a café business," he told this paper.

"Once the café opened its doors, many dwarves showed up, seeking a job," adds Al Kilani. Four are now employed and some others have landed lucrative job contracts in the Gulf.

The young lawyer and employer is critical of movies and TV projecting dwarves in an unfavourable light.

"Some people do not just realise that the dwarf is not to blame for being shorter than usual." To reinforce the message, Al Kilani has named the café after his grateful employees.

"I call the café 'Dwarves of the East' to highlight the fact that these people are part of our world and society."

"When a day passes without someone mocking me, I feel quite happy," says Heba Saber, another attendant at the 'Dwarves of the East'.

The 18-year-old girl holds a secretariat diploma. She complains she failed to land a job according to her educational background.

"The law stipulates that five per cent of vacancies at government departments should be allocated for disabled people. We're like the handicapped, aren't we?" But Saber is pleased with her job at the cafe. "At least here, no-one taunts me."

She has got her own agenda though. "I have to work hard to start a business of my own. I dream of setting up a café in Sharm Al Shaikh or Hurghada (two famed Egyptian resorts)," she said.

And the coffee shop has been a popular one. "They are good-hearted and hard-working people. What else do we, patrons, want?" says Ahmad Hamed, an engineer.

The writer is a journalist based in Cairo