Chef Waya Wijangco, formerly of Kiss the Cook Gourmet, is known for her sophisticated palate and her ability to weave wonderful flavours to create sumptuous dishes. But it is outside the kitchen that Chef Waya is making a bigger mark in society – and that is through opening her heart and extending a helping hand to children with special needs.
“I will take care of my child until my dying day, but what happens when I’m gone?” This was the question a parent of a child with special needs asked Chef Waya Wijangco some years ago, during a cooking workshop which the chef hosted for children with special needs.
A mother herself, Chef Waya empathized with the plight of the mother. “How do you assure that your child will survive without you?”
Back then the chef had no plans of taking the workshop to another level, until she was gently reminded by her father. “My dad often said, ‘There has to be a point, a purpose for everything that you do. What is it’?”
“I realized, even if I do cooking workshops every day, how will this help them achieve the life that they deserve? I knew it’s not by teaching them how to cook, but in getting them to work. So now the question is, what do we need to do to get them employed?”
In the Philippines, though there are schools and programs established for children with special needs, very few, if any, teach the valuable, practical skills for them to flourish in the real world, outside of their home. There are fewer still that offer to help them find employment.
“There are a lot of programs for people with special needs, but these are more focused on the children. Usually, after high school, wala na. So after all the interventions and therapies, what happens to the child? They stay at home and do nothing. So what’s the point of all that?” Chef Waya dares to raise the question.
“I believe that work is necessary for an individual because it builds character, it puts direction in your life, and there is dignity to be found in work. “
Thus, Chef Waya established Open Hand School for the Applied Arts, a school, a creative laboratory, and a haven created for children with special needs. Here, kids and young adults with special needs, ages 13 and above, are taught and empowered to be self-sufficient individuals.
The greater goal for each and every student at Open Hands is that they achieve a level of independence and that they be able to support themselves – whether it’s through employment or by becoming an entrepreneur.
From cooking to laundry and house cleaning, gardening, personal hygiene and safety, and arts and crafts, the children are taught basic, but valuable life skills. Depending on the capabilities of the child and the goals of the parents, Chef Waya and Open Hand teachers customize programs for each child.
“There is this stigma that children with special needs are ‘pabigat’ (a burden). People only see the tantrums and the other eccentricities, but they don’t know that through proper management, the children will and can outgrow this phase. Essentially, these students need to learn social skills, so we use the curriculum as a means to teach behaviour management,” she shares.
Though she doesn’t have a degree in child psychology or special education, Chef Waya works extensively with SPED experts and her network of teachers. “I can teach the skills, but what I lack, the teachers help in filling.”
In addition to life skills, the ultimate goal of Open Hands is to help the students find employment or at least develop a skill or product that they can use to build a business from their home. For those who can seek employment in corporate offices and restaurant/hotel kitchens, Open Hands prepares its students through hands-on activities held at their facility. Open Hands also includes on-the-job training at Gourmet Gypsy Art Cafe, a fully operational restaurant owned by Chef Waya. They work as servers, front of desk, in the kitchen, and even accounting, and are paid for their work in the form of an allowance.
Chef Waya is very careful and does not promote Gourmet Gypsy Art Cafe as a restaurant with a staff comprised of individuals with special needs. “My students are not some sort of gimmick to make this restaurant as novelty. And we’re not looking for a pity party either. Of course, when the customers notice our staff, we explain the advocacy behind the restaurant so they’re able to understand and emphathize. But if they don’t notice, well, we celebrate!” enthusiastically shares Chef Waya.
Four years into operation, Open Hands has grown to include 32 students, 12 teachers and three non-teaching staff. Soon, Open Hands will open up schools in Makati and Davao City as well.
It’s been a challenging first few years – with nothing less than blood, sweat and tears used to build the school, but it has been, indeed, worthwhile. Chef Waya’s advocacy and awareness is growing, and hopefully the voices of those who she represents will be heard. She ends with an important reminder for everyone: “Work is a human right, and we should assure that it’s made available to everybody – even those with special needs.”
Makeup by Herbert Coralde and hair by Jayfren “JJ” Gallego of Creations by Lourd Ramos Salon
