During work hours, among the sounds of machines, the kitchen of Bach's Bakery (面包房) is especially tidy and quiet, not because of any rules against talking during work hours, but because all of the workers have a hearing disability. They are hard-working and professional in their work, and use sign language to communicate with each other from time to time.
Bach's Bakery lies in Changsha City, Hunan Province. It is run by a German couple, Uwe Brutzer and his wife Dorothee Brutzer, who started it up ten years ago with the purpose of creating more jobs for those disabled in the neighborhood. So far, Bach's Bakery has trained around 30 hearing disabled people. While some skilled workers found jobs in other bakeries and hotels and have been able to live on their own, several of them have stayed to work at the bakery after they completed the training.
The Brutzers' work has won the support of many people in China. With the spread of news about the bakery, many Internet users learned about Bach's Bakery and its inspiring story. As a result, many local people in Changsha as well as visitors from other parts of the country come to buy their products, Uwe said that public attention has encouraged them a lot and helped grow the bakery's business, resulting in workers getting higher pay. However, what he values more is that, through media (媒体) reports, more people have come to understand that disabled people can work as well as other people when they are given chances.
Now, as they are preparing to return to Germany, they have found a German couple teaching in China as the new managers, and handed over the bakery to a public welfare (福利) organization. Their wish is to continue providing free training for the hearing disabled and that the bakery will never be changed into a shop with moneymaking as its main goal.
