Once he settled in Warsaw, Avdevic began training baristas for people in wheelchairs.
Warsaw, Poland:
At first glance, with its sleek décor and freshly ground coffee, this cafe run by Belarusian exile Sasha Avdevic might look like just another trendy Warsaw spot.
But the low, wheelchair-accessible counter and a sign in Polish, English and Belarusian saying: “The barista on shift is hearing impaired” make it clear that this is no ordinary establishment.
Avdevich, a wheelchair user himself, founded the first “inclusive barista” coffee shop during his time in Belarus and quickly gained fame as a disability activist in a country tightly controlled by strongman President Alexander Lukashenko.
The 40-year-old activist took part in the unprecedented mass protests that swept across Belarus after a 2020 election that was condemned by human rights groups as fraudulent.
As President Lukashenko brutally cracked down on dissent, Avdevic knew he had to flee.
“A lot of people called me at the time and said: ‘Sasha, if you don’t want to end up in a coffin, get out of the country,'” he told AFP.
He detailed his COVID-19-era journey, first fleeing to Georgia, then traveling to the Canary Islands and applying for international protection in France.
He eventually emigrated to Poland, where tens of thousands of Belarusians like Avdevic who fled repression now live.
“There are a lot of immigrants with disabilities,” Avdevic said.
Rap battles, speed dating
Once he settled in Warsaw, Avdevic started training baristas in wheelchairs, organized festivals where the trainees brewed coffee in specially adapted carts, and began making plans to open Poland’s first cafe.
When Avdevic found a commercial space for people with disabilities near his apartment in the city’s increasingly popular Praga district, he and his business partner decided to give it a try.
“We had money to pay three months’ rent, so we were like, ‘Come on, whatever happens, let’s give it a go,'” he said.
The cafe, which opened in April, employs Belarusians as well as people with various disabilities and migrants.
The founders said they wanted their cafe to be as “international” and inclusive as possible.
“We recently organized a rap battle and will also be organizing a speed dating event soon,” Avdevic said.
The cafe will also be running a DJ school that anyone can join.
Avdevic broke his spine in a motorcycle accident in 2011 and lost the use of both his legs.
“There is no surgery for this type of disability. Even if I were Bill Gates, I would never be able to walk again,” Avdevic said with a laugh.
Immediately after the accident, he said he said to himself, “Okay, I’m alive. What can I do? My arm moves.”
“And now we’re here, in our coffee shop, trying to make the world a better place.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
