In Amsterdam, by the river Amstel lies CtheCity; an initiative that gives people tours in the dark, by blind people. CtheCity now also has a Sign Language Coffee bar, that only employs deaf barista's and where everything is ordered in Sign Language.
In the middle of Amsterdam, in the city, the city's most recognizable features are recreated in the dark. You're being guided by a blind guide and you get to experience what it means to have every other sense stimulated.CtheCity now has a Sign Language Coffee Bar, which only employs deaf barista's and where everything is ordered and communicated in Sign Language.
They're both initiatives of the founders, Sandra and Bas who started Caste in 2007: Caste is a dining experience in the dark, with blind waiters and waitresses. They discovered that people with a visual or hearing impairment have special talents and founded Ctalents, which trains, coaches and guides hearing and visually impaired people to a fitting job. Currently, the level of unemployment in the Netherlands for the visually and hearing impaired is at 70%, whereas the National average for hearing and seeing people is below 5%. Ctalents wants to lower this percentage to at least 20%, by starting initiatives and stimulating other businesses to start similar initiatives as well.
