ALBAWABA - Lebanese Elie Hanna has broken all norms and barriers by opening the first cafe that uses sign language in the Middle Eastern country.
Elie Hanna was born in 1991. The 34-year-old brave deaf man had studied fashion design at ESMOD Beirut. He decided to open a unique cafe to help deaf people get more involved in the Lebanese community, taking advantage of his own experience.
Al Bawaba's exclusive Q&A interview with Elie Hanna, the owner of Sip and Sign cafe.
What inspired Elie to open the Sip and Sign cafe?
When Elie Hanna used to go to the coffee shops and restaurants with his friends, he faced many challenges in communicating with waiters who didn't understand what he wanted to order. The same situations were repeated when he wanted to go to a hospital or a bank; he had to take another person with him because of the barrier of communication.
He said this is what inspired him to open the cafe 'sip and sign', "to create a community where deaf people can feel comfortable and hearing people can enjoy a new experience, which is learning sign language, in addition to serving a delicious coffee and dessert."
Sip and Sign cafe will give sign language workshops for free every weekend, and organize activities in collaboration with deaf associations and schools.
Elie stressed, "The main objective is to raise the importance of the sign language and to show that deaf people are not disabled, they just have a different lifestyle and a different language, they have the right to be."
What challenges did you face when opening Sip and Sign cafe?
One of the biggest challenges Elie faced while trying to open the first sign language coffee shop in Lebanon was mainly the communication barrier, as he had to ask for help from his brother, Jean Paul Hanna, who is the business planner and the executor of the project.
How did the community respond when you first opened?
"When we first opened the community was amazed by the idea and all hearing people were so excited in learning and trying to order their coffee using sign language, they were so happy to be able to communicate with deaf people and to understand them, they were so scared that the deaf person infront of them would not understand what they are saying but using all the signs around the shop (in the decoration) it was much easier to communicate," Sip and Sign owner told Al Bawaba.
What message do you hope this cafe sends to society about inclusivity?
Sip and Sign has an important message to send, and it is to stress that deaf people are not disabled, and they just speak a different language. Deaf people are capable of doing anything in this world, but they just need to be understood, trusted and encouraged.
Hanna maintained that every single Lebanese must learn sign language, which should become part of universities' curriculums, because its presence is a necessity for these people to feel safe and enjoy their lives independently without the help of their family members.
If you could send one message to the wider Lebanese community, what would it be?
As a bigger messege to the Lebanese community, Elie hopes his business to increase to a wider circle by including sign language in the municipalities, government institutions, banks and hospitals.
He wrote, "We did the first step and we hope the government take this to another level and makes sure all their rights are reserved and given."
