Coffee shop set up to employ persons with disabilities has flourished as a business and plans to open a third venue in Belarus.
“Inclusive Barista” was the idea of Alexander Nikolayevich Avdevich, a wheelchair user who wanted a shop to be adapted for everyone.
After hosting classes for persons with disabilities on how to prepare coffee, he became frustrated by finding it difficult to find employment with local businesses. This urged him to open the coffee shop in Minsk.
Vasilii Pavlikov, who has Down’s syndrome, has played an important part in this success and has become a business’s recognizable face. In fact, there are now advertising posters around the city center with Pavlikov pictured inviting people to come for a hot drink, reports CGTN.
“We opened in May, amid the COVID19, and we were being discouraged from doing this then – some people said that we would close soon, but we thought otherwise. This is called ‘grabbing the bull by the horns’,” he said.
“The coffee shop is our first business, and it’s very promising.” said Pavlikov.
The company was delighted to find the concept had international appeal and secure foreign investment for a third shop outside the Belarus capital.
