Cooking up a success story

Gaza: Workers scurry around in the kitchen slicing vegetables and kneading dough, but other than the sounds of slicing, cutting and pounding here there is no noise, no shouting.

Every day after school, young men and women make their way to a restaurant to be trained in the art of making different dishes under a project by the Atfaluna Association for the Deaf, which aims to integrate young deaf people into mainstream society.

Ahmad Abdo, the association's chief of food production, said the 12 students taking part in the programme aim to change the way society views differently-abled people. While training has already started, the official opening is slated for July.

Sign language is the order of the day at the restaurant and even though it is a challenge giving the students precise instructions, it is nevertheless a rewarding experience, according to Hassan Al Daboos, the main chef and trainer at the restaurant.

"These young men and women are extremely active and ambitious. It's inspiring," he told Gulf News.

The project aims to give deaf people the chance to build their own careers, according to Dalia Abu Amr, the public relations officer of the Atfaluna. "It's a unique project to integrate deaf people into society here in Gaza," she said.

Ameenah Al Omran, 22, one of the deaf students participating in the programme, said that the experience had stirred up a desire to show that disability is not inability.

"I want to be a role model for the deaf and encourage them to participate in life since we, the deaf, are just as capable as other people," she said in sign language.

Ameenah, who is still in school, said that she is so happy with the skills she had learnt so far and can't wait for the opening in July.

Abeer Ayyoub is a journalist based in Gaza.