在梦想咖啡馆里，酿造一些特别的东西

在梦想咖啡馆里，酿造一些特别的东西

Menggongfang Cafe, or the Dream Workshop Cafe, on Chengshan Road in Pudong has been drawing a lot of visitors over the past few weeks.

在过去的几周里，浦东城山路上的梦工坊咖啡馆吸引了很多游客。

On the surface, the choice to open a coffee house on Chengshan Road seems unwise since the area is close to old residential complexes with no commercial zones anywhere nearby. The shopfront of the cafe is almost bland, with white boldface Chinese characters of the shop’s name on a gray striped board.

表面上看，在城山路开一家咖啡馆似乎是不明智的，因为该地区靠近没有商业区的老住宅区。咖啡馆的店面几乎是平淡无奇的，灰色条纹板上用黑体字写着白色的店名。

There are only 18 tables in the cafe, which somehow makes the already roomy space even more capacious. The drinks and snacks are the usual kinds, many of the cakes are made in advance, nothing to brag about.

咖啡馆只有18张桌子，这让原本就很宽敞的空间变得更加空旷。饮料和零食都是平常的种类，很多蛋糕都是提前做好的，没什么可吹嘘的。

“Wrong marketing strategy!” one may say. Once you walk in, however, it is self-evident why the cafe in this quite old neighborhood has been garnering so much attention.

“错误的营销策略!”有人可能会说。然而，一旦你走进来，你就会明白，为什么这家位于这个相当古老街区的咖啡馆会受到如此多的关注。

The back door of the cafe leads to Pudong Special School. All seven waiters and waitresses are mentally handicapped and are students of the school.

咖啡馆的后门通向浦东特殊学校。7名男女服务员都是智障人士，也都是该校的学生。

“Welcome to Menggongfang,” with a resonant voice, a tall young man opened the door for Shanghai Daily reporter on Saturday. He ran to a small blackboard which read “You are our 1,931st guest” and changed the number to 1,932.

“欢迎来到梦工坊。”周六，一位高大的年轻人用洪亮的声音为《上海日报》的记者打开了门。他跑到一块写着“你是我们1931位客人”的小黑板前，把数字改成了1932。

His name is Yang Ankun. The 21-year-old is autistic. Having studied in the special school for over five years, he graduated on June 28, the same day Menggongfang opened.

他的名字叫杨安坤。21岁的他患有自闭症。他在这所特殊学校学习了五年多，于6月28日毕业，与梦工坊开业是同一天。

“I’m one of the first employees at the cafe. I’m the usher. I count the number of customers every day. I don’t make mistakes,” Yang says loudly, with pride. “I have also learned how to make tea and coffee, I can dance and rap.”

“我是这家咖啡馆的第一批员工之一。我是接待员。我每天都在数顾客的数目。我不会犯错，”杨骄傲地大声说。“我还学会了如何泡茶和煮咖啡，我会跳舞和说唱。”

Two teachers stood in the corner of the cafe, watching Yang as he introduces every detail of his job.

两名老师站在咖啡馆的角落里，看着杨介绍他工作的每一个细节。

“He has an extraordinary memory and numerical sense,” said Yang Bin, a teacher from the special school who is also in charge of the students’ employment projects. “But he has behavior that is typical to all autistic children, so we asked him to be the receptionist.”

“他有非凡的记忆力和数字感，”该校教师杨斌(音译)说。他还负责学生的就业项目。“但他的行为对所有自闭症儿童来说都很典型，所以我们让他做接待员。”

On taking a seat, a waiter approached and asked if he could offer anything.

一坐下来，一个服务员走过来，问他是否需要帮忙。

“I just learned to make a heart on top of the latte milk foam, do you want to try?” the 19-year-old boy, Ying Hao, said.

“我刚学会在拿铁牛奶泡沫上做一个心形，你想试试吗?”19岁的男孩应浩(音)说。

Ying is a Down’s syndrome patient and definitely the star of the cafe.

应是唐氏综合症患者，他绝对是这家咖啡馆的明星。

Compared with a skilled barista, it takes Ying twice as much time to make a cup of latte. The heart he makes is a little crooked and he often fills the cup to the brim so that the other waiters end up spilling some of the liquid.

与熟练的咖啡师相比，冲一杯拿铁咖啡需要两倍的时间。他做的心有点歪，他经常把杯子装满到边缘，这样其他服务员就会洒出一些液体。

But Ying concentrates fully on the task on hand and hands over the overflowing latte with a huge smile.

但应却全神贯注于手头的工作，双手捧着满溢的拿铁，脸上挂着灿烂的微笑。

He Yutian was managing another cafe when he received the offer from the special school.

何玉田(音译)收到这所特殊学校的录取通知时，正在经营另一家咖啡馆。

“I flinched at first when I heard the seven employees are mentally handicapped,” said He. “But to my surprise, they were more willing to learn and every one of them is genuinely kind and honest.”

他说:“当我听说这7名员工都是智障人士时，我一开始吓了一跳。”“但令我惊讶的是，他们更愿意学习，而且他们每个人都非常善良和诚实。”

He revealed that it was hard at first, as the waiters often forgot what to do. “You had to repeat again and again before they got their hands on the routine. But they worked very hard.”

他透露，刚开始很难，因为服务员经常忘记该做什么。“你必须一遍又一遍地重复，然后他们才会掌握流程。但他们工作非常努力。”

Amid wide media coverage recently, the cafe has been a bit overwhelmed. Many costumers gave a thumbs-up when the waiters served coffee at their tables.

在最近媒体的广泛报道下，这家咖啡馆有点人满为患。当服务员端上咖啡时，许多顾客都竖起大拇指。

Huang Qiaolin, who lives nearby, came to the cafe with her daughter. They left a memo sticker on the wall. “The coffee is good, the waiters are so cute,” the note reads. “I wish you all have better lives and make more delicious coffee.”

住在附近的黄乔琳(音译)和她的女儿来到了这家咖啡馆。她们在墙上留下了一张备忘录贴纸。“咖啡很好，服务员很可爱，”纸条上写道。“我希望你们都过上更好的生活，煮出更美味的咖啡。”

Ying’s shift finishes at around 5pm and his mother Ying Zhengfang comes to pick him up for dinner. But before leaving, she orders a cup of coffee from her son.

应的轮班在下午5点左右结束，他的母亲应正芳来接他吃饭。但在离开之前，她向儿子要了一杯咖啡。

Ying’s mother moved to Shanghai when he was only 6. She now runs a Japanese restaurant in Pudong.

应的母亲在他6岁的时候搬到了上海。她现在在浦东开了一家日本餐馆。

She explained that had she left the boy back in her village, he would have lived under prejudices. “It is considered a stigma to have a child with intellectual disabilities (in rural villages),” the mother said.

她解释说，如果她把这个男孩留在村里，他就会生活在偏见之中。这位母亲说:“在农村，有一个智力残疾的孩子被认为是一种耻辱。”

Ying learned dancing, cooking and playing the piano since he was little. He knew he had to make more effort to master the skills which are seemingly common for the majority.

英从小就学会了跳舞、烹饪和弹钢琴。他知道他必须付出更多的努力，来掌握那些对大多数人来说似乎很普遍的技能。

When Ying first started learning cooking, his hand shook uncontrollably when he held the kitchen knife. His mother watched him closely but let him continue. Gradually Ying learned how to cook Kung Pao chicken and sweet-and-sour pork, both of which require delicate cutting skills.

应刚开始学烹饪的时候，握着菜刀，手不住地颤抖。他母亲仔细地看着他，但还是让他继续。渐渐地，他学会了烹饪宫保鸡丁和糖醋肉，这两种菜都需要精湛的刀工。

“I want him to know it is fine to be like him,” she said. “He can still learn and have a fulfilled life.”

她说：“我想让他知道，即便如此，他也可以过得很好，他仍然可以学习并拥有充实的生活。”

Asked what he wanted to do in the future, Ying laughed and said his dream was to be a sushi master.

当被问及将来想做什么时，应笑着说他的梦想是成为一名寿司师傅。

All seven employees at the coffee shop have signed service contracts to ensure their wages. Teacher Yang Bin revealed that the school has been exploring better ways to help these children blend into society.

为保证他们的工资，这家咖啡店的7名员工都签署了劳动合同。杨斌老师透露，学校一直在探索更好的方法来帮助这些孩子融入社会。