Nicafé
Emcadisa, which stands for Empoderar Capacidades Diferentes (empowering differently-abled), is a key component of Sonrisas Felices. Emcadisa is a small business with two parts, a restaurant called Nicafé and a plant nursery, or vivero, called Plantafé. We operate as one team, Somos Uno!
In late 2021 Jeffrey Landi and his partners Katie Brugger & Javier Flores wanted to create a project designed to provide opportunities to differently-abled people in the area of Rivas, Nicaragua. After considerable exploration, we discovered a sizable segment of young deaf Nicaraguans. Most had never worked before and were essentially languishing at home, unseen and uninvolved in their communities. We chose to focus on their fundamental need for work and thus created a micro-enterprise called Emcadisa.
We hired ten people, seven of whom were deaf. We brought on a sign language interpreter, and the whole team trained extremely hard to establish communication and logistical workflows. Mind-blowing 6 weeks!
Our grand opening was January 15, 2022. The mayor of San Juan del Sur proudly cut our ribbon and we have been a beacon of inclusivity, opportunity, and incredible energy ever since.
Our ultimate purpose is to be an incubator for our staff – so they gain the experience, skills and confidence to find jobs elsewhere…enabling us to bring in the next set of people that desperately need work. This has happened already with multiple employees.
Nicafé consists of the following:
• 7 employees, including 2 deaf servers, 2 deaf cooks, 1 person with a physical disability, 1 hearing chef/manager who learned 200 signs related to the kitchen (in just 10 days), and 1 caretaker. Staff is cross-trained in all aspects of the restaurant, and covers the nursery Plantafé when needed.
• The restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch daily 7:30-5. We are proud to report that 75% of our business comes from Nicaraguans!