How Did We Start?
It's a Long Story...
At the root of Deaf Can! Coffee is the belief that Deaf people can do anything and lack nothing, even though we don't hear with our ears. Society however doesn't always agree and Deaf youth often face a negative stigma in their environment that creates a L-A-C-K in their life by excluding them and preventing access to Language, Affirmation, Community and Knowledge. To address this, a group of Deaf teen boys from Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf (Kingston, Jamaica) were taken on a field trip to meet Evelyn Clarke, a Deaf coffee farmer in Top Hill, St. Elizabeth. Clarke is a Deaf person proud of his Sign Language, Affirmed in his Deaf identity, Integral in his Community and very Knowledgeable in the art of growing and roasting coffee. With his inspiration and challenge, the teen students began roasting, packaging and selling coffee. Then they began brewing the coffee and a few months later opened up a small coffee shop at their school. Out of this was born the social enterprise Deaf Can! Coffee that trains students at the school and also operates in the public space via a mobile coffee shop, and one day soon we may even have a full-time shop!
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