From the Newspapers, translated…
The very first certified caretaker, An-An entered into the Minimal Café to work…
The worker, “An-An” at Minimal Café in Da-An District smiled so radiantly, as she ushered in the customers, this was, her first month of interning as a “graduated caretaker”, the very first of the cases of graduated caretakers. An-An said, that working at the café helped her gain more self-confidence, that in the future, she’d hoped to work for a not-for-profit organization.
photo courtesy of the UDN papers…
The forty-four year-old An-An spent a decade’s time, caring for her ailing parents, her mother had leiomyosarcoma, they’d gone to doctors all over, the cost for treatment was really high; later on, the cancer cells metastasized, and her mother would start crying out in pain in the middle of the nights, “I’d feared sleeping at night, it’s difficult to sleep.”, her mother died from the cancer, and her father couldn’t stand the loss of his wife, died two years afterwards too.
An-An said, that her father had neural degenerations, would wake several times a night, “I’d forced myself to take care of everything, caring for my father, and working at the same time by myself.” But, working in the daytime, looking after her father in the evenings, she’d burned on both ends, and, she’d quitted her job as a clerk at the bank.
inside the cafe…
not my photo stilll…
An-An’s father died a year ago, and, she’d spent almost a year’s time in grief, “Every time I’d arrived home I’d think, the shoes are still here, where is he?”, she’d refused to leave her house. In the volunteers of the Taiwanese Caretakers Association’s urging, she’d come to “Minimal Café” on June 1, became the very first of the “graduates of caretakers” internship program.
An-An smiled and told that as she first started working, she was very clumsy, and would stutter as she introduced the specials to the guests; and now, she’d memorized the menu of the café, and can comfortably interact and socialize with the guests now. Sometimes, as she saw guests with their own parents, she’d gotten reminded, of how her parents were no longer around and she’d felt sad.
An-An said, that caring for the ill long term has a very low sense of achievement, and she was constantly under high pressures, and after she’d let go of the burdens of caretaking, she’s already in her midlife years, and, as she’s about to enter back into the workforce again, she’d worried, that she’s too old, that the owners wouldn’t want her, or that she’d had difficulties adapting to work again. There’s this scent of leisure in the café, it’d helped her alleviate the stresses, the manager, as well as the customers, they all accepted her, it’d helped her pick up the passions for work and for life again.
So, this, is a social welfare program started by the private sectors, and this café had helped this woman regain the purpose of her own life, she’d spent her life, caring for her ill parents, and now they’d died, and she’d, walked out into the community, because of this café…
Life, the Obstacle Course 