Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.07.2013, Page 18

18The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 10 — 2013
Kolabrautin is on 4th floor Harpa
Order a table in phone 519 9700
info@kolabrautin.is
www.kolabrautin.is
Experience the freshness of our Icelandic-Italian cuisine, or have a drink at our
renowned cocktail bar while enjoying one of the best panoramic views in Reykjavík,
an evening at Kolabrautin is truly a feast for all the senses.
ICELANDIC PRODUCE
ITALIAN TRADITIONS.
Right beside the Tjarnarbíó theatre, you’ll find a café called
GÆS. The brand new café sits by the pond and offers refuge
from the ever-present Reykjavík rain (what the locals call “sum-
mer”). The coffee is good, the environment is great—but there
are other things that set it apart from your run of the mill Reyk-
javík café.
From the outside, the building GÆS inhabits looks more like
a continental inner city church than a café, wedged in between
two other buildings, making the best use of the space available.
Inside, you find that the café’s hall features one long table, and a
few smaller ones instead of pews. A working piano rests where
you’d expect a church organ, and the counter is located where
one would imagine an altar. It may as well be an altar for the
coffee hungry, as guests can queue up to receive holy refills
of drip coffee. There is a side function room that could equally
host prayer sessions or business meetings. And the roof is even
a gable roof, with large windows to warm up café guests and
churchgoers alike.
This, however, is where the church analogy ends. The fur-
niture is eclectically gathered from multiple sources, and the
walls are adorned with brilliantly coloured strips of fabric. The
piano can be played by whoever wants to play, and the record
player comes with a stack of vinyl for the customers’ perusing
and playing pleasures.
Most importantly they have a very progressive equal oppor-
tunity policy that other local businesses really should take a hint
from.
A dream come true
The café was the dream project of Steinunn Ása Þorvaldsdót-
tir, a place that employs people with disabilities and gives them
a chance to engage in fruitful and rewarding activities on their
own. GÆS translates as ‘goose,’ but it’s actually an acronym for
“Get, Ætla, Skal” (“I Can, Will and Shall!”), which is the mentality
Steinunn wants to promote with her staff and customers. Sitting
down with Steinunn and three of her co-workers, Óli, María and
Unnur, we talk about the adventure of starting a new café, and
why it is important to have true equal opportunity workplaces.
All four agree there is a real lack of job opportunities for peo-
ple with disabilities. “There is assisted employment,” Steinunn
says, “but that only works for some people.” There are also
protected workplaces, but people with disabilities do not have
much autonomy there. Only a select few private workplaces
will consider hiring disabled people. At GÆS, however, the five
members of the board all have disabilities of one kind or anoth-
er. “We also hire people without disabilities,” they assure me.
The group tells me that they find job market afraid of employ-
ing disabled people. We speculate whether they are afraid of
giving people with disabilities too many responsibilities, or not
knowing what jobs they are capable of performing. This, they
tell me, is the root of the problem: people are not given a chance
to prove themselves.
Not letting society disable you
Steinunn says she was so tired of letting others tell her what
she could and couldn’t do, so she decided to start her own busi-
ness. Her friends who were studying with her were thrilled to
be a part of the idea, and after giving a presentation to the city
council, the project got the green light. “The real question was
‘Can you do it?’” Steinunn says. “With the right help, yes I can.
The number one thing to do is just to do it. And you have to fol-
low your heart.”
After a six-week work placement at Kaffitár and numerous
presentations for staff and members of the board, GÆS opened
for business in June. They ran into a lot of hurdles with permits,
and their lack of experience with various financial matters, but
their biggest hurdle was a lack of cups. They asked online if peo-
ple could spare any unused ones, and before they knew it they
had two thousand cups of all shapes and sizes.
Outside of Iceland there are cafés where people with disabili-
ties can work, but it is very rare for them to run the business.
The group says that working on this project has filled them with
confidence and positivity.
The group unanimously says the greatest issue affecting
people with disabilities in Iceland is a society that disables them
more so than their individual impairments. As Steinunn notes:
“we are all very different, with different things to offer.”
Steinunn brings up the UN Convention on the rights of per-
sons with disabilities. Iceland signed the Convention in 2007,
but as of yet has not ratified. Ratification requires Iceland to
modify its legislation in ways that will benefit a whole range
of people with disabilities, and among other things promote a
more inclusive and diverse workforce.
TwOFER!
Unnur points out another incentive for businesses to hire people
with disabilities. “Often we will have assistants with us, who
help us with our daily tasks. So by hiring us, companies actually
get two people working for them for the price of one!”
It is encouraging seeing such an idealistic café spring up in
Reykjavík. Steinunn says the place is there to change the world
and show people that it can be done. “It really is the café of op-
portunities,” she says.
GÆS is currently supported by the City of Reykjavík, which
provides the space for the operation. The group tells me city
council wants to get investors involved eventually, and phase
out its support, but at the moment GÆS is out of the red and
breaking even.
Whether or not investors get involved, GÆS will remain open
this summer. The group isn’t sure what will happen after that,
but they are thrilled to be running and working at the café. If
you feel like trying a café with a different vibe, then head out to
GÆS. We hear they even have delicious waffles on Saturdays.
I Can, Will And Shall
GÆS is the first café run by disabled people in Iceland
By Tómas Gabríel Benjamin
“We are all very different, with
different things to offer.”
GÆS is located on Tjarnargata, just by the pond.
Photos by Axel Sigurðarson