The Deaf can Go Negosyo!

Lino is the fifth of 10 children and lives with 17 family members. He runs a neighborhood almusal business that sends his nieces and nephews to school. He struggles doubly hard because he is deaf.

Everlino Alvarez:
A Story of Perseverance

LINO wakes up before dawn to prepare for the day's work.

It's still one o'clock in the morning but the customers will soon start arriving. Lino and his two siblings speed up the cooking of their first batch of omelet and fried rice. They sell breakfast in front of their house.

At around five o'clock, half of their almusal have been sold. By seven or eight, little is left of the morning's offering. They make almost P1,000.

Work doesn't end there; they still have to clean up and prepare for the next day's vending activities. This has become Lino's routine since they opened for business nine months ago.
Lino, whose real name is Everlino Alvarez, is 30 years old. He is the fifth of 10 children. He lives with 17 family members in a small house in Pasay City. With the day's profit, he takes only P100. The rest of the money goes to the schooling of his nieces and nephews and to the electricity and water bills of the family.

Lino's story is common to the hundreds of micro-entrepreneurs who ply the streets of Metro Manila with their instant meals. What is unique about Lino is that he is Deaf. An accident when he was seven affected his hearing.

As he began to lose his hearing, Lino had to face society's prejudice against people with disabilities. In grade 5, he was physically abused by his teacher and classmates who made fun of his disability. He eventually had to stop going to school when he became totally Deaf, forcing him to study on his own.

The taunting went on for five years but Lino took every kick, blow and mockery with patience and humility. He may have been bruised and scarred but he was determined to succeed.

When Lino's sister discovered the Philippine School for the Deaf (PSD), Lino gladly resumed his studies. As a Deaf person, Lino learned sign language and adjusted to his new community. His perseverance and hard work allowed him to graduate with honors in PSD. He eventually received a scholarship at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde's School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (DLS-CSB SDEAS). There he took up Bachelor in Applied Deaf Studies and specialized in Business Entrepreneurship.

Lino's father, a jeepney driver, was happy but apprehensive. He wanted Lino to pursue college but he was afraid his meager earnings would not be enough to provide for his son's food and transportation allowance. Often, Lino had to skip meals while in school just so he would have enough money for his trip home. Though his stomach may have grumbled, his list of achievements in school is full to bursting. He was a consistent Dean's Lister, a Service Awardee, a Social Responsibility Awardee and graduated with an Honorable Mention.

In March 2007, Lino applied for a micro-finance loan from the Youth Entreployment Support for the Deaf (YES-Deaf) Project, an entrepreneurial development project for the Deaf of DLS-CSB and the Deaf Benildeans Multi-purpose Cooperative (DBMC). Funded by the Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program, Lino secured a loan of P2,500 which he paid in full two months ahead of the maturity date.

Honesty is another of Lino's many admirable qualities. While in school, he found a high-end mobile phone and promptly returned it to the owner, notwithstanding the prodding of classmates to keep the prized find for himself. It was through his hard work and budgeting skills that he now owns his own high-end phone. The cell phone is a very important tool for Deaf communication.

All these traits earned him the SDEAS' 2007 YES-Deaf Model Entrepreneur of the Year.

Now, Lino is looking for new opportunities to pour more capital in his business so he can expand it. But he knows he needs to be extra careful now that the business he once monopolized has given rise to copycats that have mushroomed near his place of business.

But given the perseverance and determination Lino has demonstrated throughout his life, he is almost certain to bring his enterprise to another level his competitors can only hope to emulate.

Everlino Alvarez' life story is a testament that though life may throw us obstacles, we have the gifts of strength and wisdom to set us free from fears, hesitations and yes, limitations. Poverty may temporarily cripple us but it will not permanently disable the creativity of the human spirit in thinking of ways to overcome material restrictions. Society may focus on the minuses of having a disability, but it is ability that really matters.

Lino continues to prove all this and he can proudly say that "Yes, the Deaf can Go Negosyo!" ß

DLS-CSB School for Deaf Education and Applied Studies YES-Deaf Project is a 2006 Panibagong Paraan Project Grant Awardee. Through a contest organized by the World Bank, AusAID's Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program gave a P1 million grant to the project to enable qualified Deaf youth to have access to a micro-finance facility so they can put up their own micro-enterprises. DLS-CSB SDEAS is actively looking for partners who can provide entrepreneurship training and business opportunities for Deaf Benildeans. Contact the Office for Partnership and Development for partnership options. Call (632) 526-7441 local 239 or email yes.deaf@gmail.com.