I would like to share a story with you here at ASEAN community about my good friend Alfonso from Bacolod in Philippines. I was first introduced to Alfonso when I was doing filming projects for an American company called Harbor Seafood. They had engaged me to travel to a few different parts in S.E. Asia to film their operations. In Sulwawesi, in Philippines, in Bali and in Thailand. Most of the filming was to show that Harbor Seafood are doing their best at ethical business directly with local fishing communities and I loved that story. It came to my attention however that one of their partners in The Philippines was staffing his entire operation with deaf workers. I was intrigued!
I wondered why this was so and was determined to meet this guy and find out more. I was concerned - were these people being exploited at below minimum wage because they were perhaps difficult to employ in most industries? I tentatively voiced my concerns to the owner of Harbor Seafood and he nearly fell of his chair laughing.
"Alfonso exploit? The reason we work with Alfonso is exactly the opposite. Let's make a film about his operations there and then you decide." they said.
Alfonso is a kind man. This was the first thing I heard on arrival in Bacolod. I was in a taxi from the airport to the hotel. My driver asked me why I was here and I explained I was doing a little filming project at the factory that prepares Crab Meat. Ah said the driver - for Alfonso?
I was excited to meet him the following day and I settled in for a nice long interview with Alfonso. He explained to me that one day years ago he had hired a deaf lady to work in a different factory. Just because she came asking for a job and Alfonso could see no reason why her hearing impairment should affect her ability to perform the work. She did the job the same as everyone else and all was well.
One day she asked Alfonso if her friends could work there too. before he knew it he had 5 or 6 deaf workers on the payroll and they worked the same as everyone else. In fact better because they didnt stand around talking - they just worked. It came to the attention of Alfonso that his factory was gaining a reputation as a place that offered fair work and pay to the hearing impaired. What Alfonso didnt realize is that this was not the case around the country. The hearing impaired were often exploited at lower salaries and found it hard to find gainful employment. The more Alfonso learned about this the more outraged he became and an idea started to take shape.
Harbor Seafood had suddenly become a new client for his business. They were bringing fresh crab to him from the local fishing community for processing and packing for export to America. What if we build a new factory staffed entirely by deaf workers - everyone, from the management to the admin and office staff, to the packing crews and all the different jobs on the factory floor? In fact the only person not deaf would be Alfonso! Alfonso pitched the Idea to Harbor Seafood and they were onboard immediately.
The factory now employs over 100 hearing impaired staff. The entire workforce. Alfonso explained to me that none of his staff needed any special treatment. All they needed was a level playing field, and they would shine. His factory filled with wonderful stories. People that are now able to support their families in ways that were never imaginable before. And all this was possible thanks to the kindness of one man who saw that people were not being treated fairly and stood up for them.
I was left in awe of Alfonso. It's rare in life to encounter someone that has such strong ethics. Here was a successful business man that always always put people before profit. Below is the film that I cut that includes Alfonso's story (a small part of it) I hope you like it!