A Message from SDEAS

Last Saturday, was one of the best learning experiences our Deaf students ever had. Although our students were quite reluctant they were at the same time excited because it was going to be their first time to actually have a feel of what Starbucks office really looks like. They had a lot of questions in mind whether they will be accepted as Deaf people and they were really surprised that volunteer partners were very eager to share knowledge and skills with them. As we all have witnessed and heard during the feedback process and giving of impressions – students re-ally appreciated the opportunity that was given to them – the most important thing is that they were never treated as somebody inferior – their diversities were embraced by hearing partners. As for my program, the project objectives have been met: 1. To understand the nature and scope of sustainable development through volunteerism and through inter- action with hearing partners by the use of various interactive activities. 2. To provide venues in which students are able to appreciate initiatives in sustainable future. 3. To provide Hearing partners concrete understanding and background about deaf culture. Our students understand how Starbucks positively contributes generously to the communities and to the envi-ronment. The ‘bad shot’ and ‘the good’ – they were saying ‘sayang’ (what a waste!) – But in the process students are able to appreciate the importance of providing highest standards in making and delivering coffees for the customers. They were amazed with the cream, body and heart of each espresso made. The tour to Starbucks really fuelled their enthusiasm to learn more about the company and let them discovered more of themselves and their potentials. The training will serve as an inspiration for them to really continue studying hard and aim for the best. The first part of the project (Activity – Lecture and Educational Trip) is done, and below will be the next steps for the SROP program

Analysis – Classroom Discussion Abstraction – Classroom Discussion Student Led Activity – Coordinator Guided – Learning/Echo session of experience to freshmen students With the students and faculty who went to Starbucks, we want to express our deepest gratitude for giving us the opportunity to learn more and interact. Special thanks also goes Mr. Jay Neil Ancheta of VSO and Ms. Zee Perez, Starbucks Philippines – Global Social Responsibility Officer, the Starbucks Partners and Volunteers. Lastly, we will provide you the result of the evaluation once done. We are excited and looking forward to our next steps towards more collaboration. All the best.

LEO ANGELO GOMEZ CABASAG Social Responsibility and Outreach Program Center for Deaf Esteem and Formation School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde

SDEAS Participants of the barista workshop are students of the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. Under its Social Responsibility and Outreach Program, staff members organized the group of deaf students who wanted to experience what it was like working for a world-renowned busi-ness establishment such as Starbucks. The school offers its students a degree program, Bachelor in Applied Deaf Studies (BAPDST), which empow-ers Deaf young adults to become productive and active members of society. By developing their competitive skills and expertise, they will be given the confidence and competence to become gainfully employed and perform effec-tively in the workplace. They also contribute to society by educating industries to be more aware, understanding and accepting of the Deaf. Participants who joined the activity are students from the Business Entrepreneurship track. This course pre-pares students to set-up, operate and manage small to medium level businesses. Here, they learn techniques in produc-ing food and non-food products. They also develop competencies in the areas of bookkeeping, accounting, and office management. It also equips them with computer application knowledge to improve business operation processes. This track is for those who want to start their own business.

Starbucks Philip-pines Housing the world’s leading re-tailer, roaster and brand of specialty cof-fee in the Philippines is the Rustan Cof-fee Corporation. A member of the Rustan Group of Companies, the corporation is the sole authorized licensee of Starbucks Coffee International in the Philippines.

In coordination with VSO Bahagi-nan and SDEAS, Starbucks set up the first ever barista workshop for the Deaf. The project is in accordance with Starbucks Philippines’ Global Responsibility efforts and partnership with VSO Bahaginan’s volunteering initiatives.

https://starbucks-philippinesjobs.silkroad.com/

Ms. Zarah Perez of Starbucks Philippines and Mr. Leo Cabasag of SDEAS

ABOUTthe Organizers and Volunteers

VSO Bahaginan VSO Bahaginan is the federation member of the VSO in Asia and the Pacific. It promotes international and na-tional volunteering as it recruits, matches and trains Filipinos to do volunteer work where they are most needed. VSO began as an international development charity based in the UK. Since its humble beginnings in 1958, the organization has worked in more than 90 countries and has placed over 40,000 volunteers.

VSO Bahaginan is currently working on projects that develop job opportunities for PWDs. The Barista work-shop is one such activity that has the organization partnering with corporate entities to support its causes.

http://www.vsobahaginan.org/

Ilustrados Ilustrados is a group of Filipino youths enlightened and brought together by their thirst for change. Through its members, it works towards a healthy exchange of knowledge and ideas. More than just having discussions and/or presentations of ideas, it hopes to inspire action that will improve the status quo by accommodating particular prob-lems of society pertaining to humanitarian issues.

Three of its members—Steph Ora (photographer), John Oliver Corciega (writer) and Ruth Valorie Catabijan (writer)—joined the workshop as volunteers to cover the event in the hopes of sharing the stories of our new friends from SDEAS.

A group shot of the organizers from SDEAS, Starbucks Philippines and Ilustrados

The mermaid that graces its all too familiar green logo isn’t the only thing that’s “legendary” about Star-bucks. Known for its great coffees and inviting coffee shop ambience, the home of the World’s Best Coffee is also known for its outstanding record in providing quality service—the Starbucks Legendary Service.

The Starbucks Legendary Service is the commitment that the managers, baristas and other employees of Star-bucks make to ensure that each customer that enters their coffee shops always leaves content with the service that they provide. It is the vow of each employee to produce food and beverages of excellent quality. Everyone working with the coffee chain makes it a point that the customer is treated in the best way possible.

In the morning of September 29, 2012, the Head of Global Responsibility for Starbucks Philippines, Ms. Zarah Perez, welcomed the students of the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde into the Main Office of Starbucks Philippines. More than just giving a barista work-shop on how to make some of their famous drinks, Starbucks aimed to instill the values of its Legendary Service in its new students.

The morning started with a briefing on Starbucks Philippines and the different projects created in meeting its Global Responsibility Goals. From this the participants learned that the company was determined to run its business in ways that were good to both people and the planet. It had three venues through which it carries out its Global Re-sponsibility Goals:

Ethical Sourcing- ethical trading of coffee for the improvement of the lives of farmers and achieving a more stable climate for the environment.

Environmental Stewardship- minimization of the environmental impact of the company and support-ing initiatives that tackle climate change

Community Involvement- reaching out to their com-munities involving their employees and customers in community service

The Barista workshop is one of Starbucks’ initiatives in achieving their goals for Community Involvement. In coordination with VSO Bahaginan and CSB-SDEAS, we see the efforts of Starbucks in growing its community base by involving members of the Deaf society into their circle. According to Ms. Perez, Starbucks has been looking into creating a work envi-ronment that is conducive to enhancing the skills of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) for almost two years now. The workshop, focusing first on the skills training of the Deaf, is actually their first project that follows this line of plan-ning for management to see how such an environment can be crafted.

THE STARBUCKSLEGENDARY SERVICE

by Ruth Valorie Catabijan

Students get barista training from different Starbucks store managers.

It was a day of many firsts for all those who participated in the workshop. Knowing that the students would be trying to make frappuc-cinos and espressos for the first time, their training came from expert baristas who were at the same time the store managers of the different branches in Greenhills and Cubao. Their trainers made sure that the students would end the workshop with a good grasp of the values of the Starbucks Legendary Service.

On the part of the trainers, they also got to try their hands at learning Filipino Sign Language (FSL) for the first time. This part of the workshop was taken care of by the faculty of CSB-SDEAS. A short course on Basic FSL and understanding the Deaf society was prepared for all the volunteers of the workshop.

Ms. Perez explains that Starbucks currently enforces a system that allows employees to focus on one activity at a time. Unlike the previous system that had one employee work at the counter to receive the order and also prepare the same, the one-activity focus system re-quires an employee to handle one job at a time. With this new system, she believes that management can create work opportunities for deaf employees if they are to work on certain activities such as preparing beverages as baristas.

After seeing how the workshop played out, Ms. Perez is more hopeful now of the possibility of creating a work environment that can properly take care of deaf employees. Although Starbucks Philippines cannot immediately implement a system to accommodate deaf employees, they are continually working towards this goal and forming partnerships with organizations like VSO Bahaginan to create a good working environment for the Deaf.

At the end of the day, Starbucks proved to everyone that its Legendary Service goes beyond its dealings over its coffee counters and inside its coffee shops. Staying true to its promise of Community Involvement, it opened itself to a wider community that included people who were eager to make use of their God-given talents and show the world what they could do.

Once again we can say that Starbucks lived up to its promise of Legendary Service. We saw its effect on those it served as we watched its newly trained baristas leave its establishment happy with their skills and, even more so, with the support they had from their partners in Starbucks Philippines.

The Starbucks volunteers also learn some basic Filipino Sign Language.

Students get barista training from different Starbucks store managers.

Ms. Joyce provides an orientation about the Deaf to the Starbucks volunteers.

Have you ever experienced getting lost in a totally alien country, surrounded by people talking animatedly about who-knows-what in a foreign tongue? Wherein, despite how much you wanted to make out what they were say-ing, you could only do so little, and that little you did understand you only guessed from the looks they had on their faces?

That was what I experienced last Saturday. The only difference was that I was a hundred-and-one percent sure I was in Philippine territory, amid people who I knew were Filipino. Also, what was different was the animated conversa-tion was in a language that I could not decipher—it was all on mute, entirely in sign.

On September 29, 2012, we spent the day with Deaf students from the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, to discover what went on behind the Star-bucks counter. It was Starbucks Philippines’ first effort to engage with the Deaf community, and their very accommodating staff volunteers were going out of their way to teach the students how to master the “art of espresso” and making their favorite cold drinks.

As we were starting, a couple of CSB teachers took their place, poised to translate the barista instructors’ every direction. I noticed my Deaf colleagues shared equal attention to reading the teachers’ sign and observing the barista’s moves. In my mind, I had to wonder how the training would probably work out. I was perfectly capable of hearing the barista myself, but I still couldn’t quite get how they arrived at a good espresso shot, complete with what they called the “crème, body and heart”!

When it was time for us to make the beverage ourselves, boy was I in for a surprise! My Deaf friends were the ones capable of coming up at once with a perfect and ready-to-serve hot caramel macchiato, while it had to take me three tries before I could even get a single espresso right. On the other side of the pantry and training, the cold drinks sec-tion, my Deaf friends outperformed me once again with their perfectly-blended and -whipped chocolate cream frappuccinos while I had to endure my watery one.

I marvelled at how the students posed their questions on how the Deaf can become part of a business like Star-bucks. Their inquiries showed how eager they were about the idea of entering this sort of industry. They asked about how the Deaf can work in instances like receiving new calls for orders coming from the counter or the length of

PERSONSWITH THIS ABILITY

by John Oliver Corciega

Students raised a lot of nteresting questions about how the Deaf can work with Starbucks.

After a couple of tries, I was able to make a “good shot” of espresso for my

iced cappuccion.

training a Deaf employee would have to undergo. Global Responsibility Officer, Ms. Zarah Perez, explained that the new system for operations can accommodate Deaf employees through the markings that they write on the cups to pass on orders. She gave the Starbucks coffee shops in South Korea as examples of the feasibility of having deaf em-ployees under this system in the Philippines. She pointed out that deaf employees have started working as baristas for months now. Training the Deaf for skills training as baristas would not be a problem since, from what she observed, the students were fast learners.

Ms. Joyce Dalawampu, one of the coordinators from SDEAS, then explained that the Deaf were not to be mis-taken, the Deaf students still found the whole exercise challenging. What set them apart though was their sharpened visual facility—they had keen sight and a good eye for detail. Ms. Rhea Tiamzon and Ms. Mitch Javier, two of our barista instructors, also added that, in their observation, what the Deaf seemed to lack in hearing, they made up for with a greater focus on the job at hand.

As we sat around waiting to cap the day off, I recalled the sense of frustration I felt earlier for not knowing how to understand the language hat they used. But, in its place now was a deep and newfound appreciation and admiration for THIS ability of communicating with others in a novel way. I was quite amazed by the liveliness they had when they communicated. I noticed that this expressiveness came naturally came from using their hands, their faces and every bit of energy had when conversing with.

This whole volunteer experience piqued my interest in learning sign language. I believe that, in leaning it, not only would I possess a skill and be able to take part in conversations with the Deaf, but, I too could now help contrib-ute to the campaign of making communities more understanding of the Deaf society.

Unlike most others, I never even got to learn how to do the simple signs such as the signs for the alphabet. I have a long way to go in this quest of mastering the sign, but it is one I greatly look forward to.

We watched a video about knowing what it’s like to live in the Deaf World.

Sir Leo taught us a few basic signs in Filipino Sign Language.

Our new friends showed us that they can be excellent baristas!

This is all of us who participated in the Barista Workshop!

We would like to thank SDEAS, VSO Bahaginan and Starbucks Philippines for this unique volunteer experience. We saw how education and the corporate world can positively affect the lives of people, regardless of any differences each person may have. The workshop served as a reminder for us that

whatever differences there may be, the dignity of each one remains equal. We wish you all the best in your work in empowering the Deaf to become productive and active members of our community.

Steph Ora | John Oliver Corciega | Ruth Valorie CatabijanIlustrados

THANK YOU!