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Inclusion. A very important thing, right? The integration of people with special needs should be the most important thing for everyone. So we talked about it in our English class. We were split up in groups and every group had to look up an inclusion project in Potsdam or Brandenburg. One of those groups informed our SAS 18.1 class about the iCafé in Potsdam, Drewitz. Because everyone was interested in this and our teacher like the project we decided to visit the iCafé on the 16th of January.
The founder of this project was in the café as we were there. So he offered to answer our questions which every group had prepared in class. I want to share the information we got with you. The “i” stands for inclusion and also for interesting. Because the job market for people with special needs is kind of non-existent the founder developed an idea of giving people with special needs the opportunity to work in his café. The café exists since 2012 but was located somewhere else in Drewitz before. The work of the six workers with special needs is supervised by a manager who hasn`t any special needs and is a qualified “Heilerziehungspflegerin”. All other workers with special needs wear yellow and the manager wears black. The way you order the food is very simple. There is a list on every table where you have to write down what and how much you want to eat or drink. Of course you have to write down the number of your table too.
The workers with special needs cook and clean everything on their own. Also important to know is that the opening times are from 10am to 6pm every day.
So after we visited this café I really wanted to visit it again. I really like the idea that this café gives everyone the chance of earning money on their own. All of the people working there are really friendly. This place is great for doing homework and drinking a hot chocolate or just meeting some friends.
I really recommend this café to everyone. Go and visit it when you have a chance!

written by Jasmin Drebes, SAS 18.1