海角大神

Fighting stigma with ice cream at Sikia Cafe

Shadia and Imran Nakueira rented the space for a restaurant in the dreamy, lakeside town of Jinja, Uganda, before they knew exactly what they were going to do with it.聽

They knew one thing though: They wanted to work alongside people with disabilities.聽

This resolve had a lot to do with their first meeting. The couple, now married for three years, met at a sporting event at a primary school for children with learning disabilities in Kampala, Uganda鈥檚 capital, in July 2013.聽

Imran had driven his sister to the event. Shadia, who had just finished her MBA in the United States, was dishing up ice cream for students and guests.聽

鈥淪he was busy that day and she was selling to many people,鈥� Imran says, with Shadia leaning against him. There was no time for flirting, so he had to get creative. 鈥淭he story [we told her] was 鈥榃e have a party somewhere. Can you supply ice cream? Can we have your number?鈥欌��

Four years later, Shadia closed up her ice cream business in Kampala to join her new husband in Jinja, where he worked in human resources for a forestry company.

Long before they met, though, she鈥檇 hoped to help open opportunities for people with disabilities. She鈥檇 grown up just on the other side of the fence from the school where they met. 鈥淭he teacher used to come ... and tutor us at home,鈥� Shadia says in her usual bubbly tone, fond with memory. 鈥淎nd then on weekends we would go to school to study there as well.鈥�

Shortly after the couple acquired the space, in 2018, an idea came along at the market.聽

鈥淭here was this very nice gentleman who I started buying things from. He used to sell lemons and he was deaf,鈥� she says. But she noticed other people mostly avoided him 鈥� never knowing, for example, how good he was with money. Was there a way, she wondered, to highlight other deaf people鈥檚 skills, and break down those barriers?

That was the birth of Sikia Cafe, staffed by deaf waiters, which opened last August 鈥� ice cream section first. The name is derived from Swahili, and means 鈥渉ear鈥� or 鈥渓isten.鈥澛�

Listening happens in so many ways beyond sound, Shadia says: body language, emotion, watching.聽

On the job

In Jinja, Sikia is famous for its colorful ice cream flavors, displayed at the entrance聽鈥� Shadia鈥檚 touch. To order, customers consult an infographic on the menu, which teaches how to sign words for menu items and phrases like 鈥渢hank you,鈥� 鈥渢akeaway,鈥� and 鈥渆at here,鈥� or scribble their selections on paper.

One of the four deaf people serving up desserts is Mark Kato, who often flashes a smile. The job has been instrumental to his own development, he says. In addition to learning job skills, for example, he鈥檚 learned to write.

Like many students with disabilities, Mr. Kato wasn鈥檛 able to complete secondary school. Overall, 12.5% of Uganda鈥檚 total population is . Yet only about 2% of enrolled students are disabled, which analysts suggest indicates accessing education.聽

Before Sikia, Mr. Kato held a job as a waiter at a hotel in Kampala, an environment he describes as hostile and less accommodating.聽

鈥淭here was a lot of pressure because the other waiters were not deaf, and language was a barrier too,鈥� he says, using British Sign Language.聽

Yet Sikia hasn鈥檛 always been a bed of roses either.聽

鈥淲hen customers come in and I give them a book to write in, most of them give me a bad attitude,鈥� Mr. Kato says. 鈥淚t makes me feel bad sometimes, but I understand because not all of them know I am deaf鈥� right away.

It鈥檚 that kind of widespread prejudice that Sikia hopes to combat. More than a million people who are deaf or hard of hearing live in Uganda, according to聽, and discrimination is common. In one of the local languages, Luganda, the word for deaf is 鈥渒asilu,鈥� which Shadia and Imran say translates as 鈥渟tupid鈥� and 鈥渧iolent.鈥�

鈥淭hat stigma is very [present],鈥� says Shadia, who teaches customers to use the word 鈥渒igala鈥�: someone who doesn鈥檛 speak or hear.

Aisha Kauma, another deaf waiter at Sikia, says she has had a similar experience. Some customers, especially new ones, like to request the cafe manager, who can speak and hear.聽

Unlike Mr. Kato, Ms. Kauma wasn鈥檛 born deaf. She continued to go to a regular school while her ability to hear declined, and it was not until she turned 13 that she completely lost her hearing.聽

鈥淚 was OK with it,鈥� she says wearing her signature wide smile. 鈥淚 felt normal.鈥�

If she weren鈥檛 deaf, however, Ms. Kauma would have been a nurse 鈥� not 鈥渉aving to deal with customers!鈥� she says, laughing.聽

Many employees, Shadia notes, have grown more confident. In September of last year, the cafe organized a talent show for Deaf Awareness Month.聽

鈥淚t became a deaf space,鈥� says Imran. 鈥淣inety percent of the people in this courtyard were deaf.鈥� During business hours, many deaf people visit Sikia as customers, too. Most of them come from Kampala, Shadia says聽鈥� a 2-hour drive away.

鈥楾he bigger picture鈥�

For Shadia, Imran, and the rest of the staff, watching people鈥檚 perceptions and attitudes change in the community has been rewarding.聽

鈥淲hat makes it different is that to our staff, the job is not just a job; it鈥檚 kind of a form of acceptance into society,鈥� Imran says.聽

鈥淵ou come here and you see children and clients who have never interacted with a deaf person before, interacting with our staff. The fact that it鈥檚 a business that is transforming society, even if by one small step every day, it kind of makes you feel, what more can I do?鈥�

Ssentongo Rogers has been visiting Sikia nearly every week since March, after he read about the cafe on a local blog. It鈥檚 also his workstation sometimes when he doesn鈥檛 go to the office.聽

Mr. Ssentongo works for a multinational brewery in Jinja and says he enjoys Sikia for many reasons, but mainly for the mind shift it鈥檚 given him about disability. In his eyes, patronizing Sikia is a social responsibility.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the bigger picture and that鈥檚 why I am always here,鈥� says Mr. Ssentongo, who is slowly learning to sign.

Wanting to do more but not having the means is a major obstacle, Imran says, especially as the cafe struggles to break even.

鈥淵ou want to be transformative, but the resources may not allow you to do it,鈥� he says.聽

For him and Shadia, though, the biggest transformations might be how the cafe has changed them personally.

Before Sikia opened, Shadia had to enroll in an official class to learn British Sign Language, and Imran has used YouTube to improve his skills as well. But she鈥檚 learned more than language skills from her employees, and refers to one instance in particular.

鈥淲hen we interviewed Aisha, she didn鈥檛 even know whether she had passed or not but she asked, 鈥楥an I bring my friend to interview as well?鈥� which is not something that would normally happen,鈥� she says.聽

鈥淎nd before I knew it, it was happening in every interview. They are all wanting to bring their friends. You realize that in their world, it鈥檚 intertwined. They are a team, they help each other.鈥�