Ed. Note: This essay was submitted to the Reporter, whose editorial staff chose to publish it. The thoughts and statements expressed within are those of the author and of the author alone. While the version that appeared in print in the Oct. 3 edition of the Reporter was edited for clarity and space restrictions, this version is unedited and presented in full.

By Isabelle He
Inglewood Junior High School

The woman I met is a very quiet person. The loud noises from the machines around her don’t bother her. All her concentration is focused on the products in her hands that need to be trimmed. I found her hands to be quite coarse due to overuse.

“How have those hands had been toiled?” I asked myself.

“Hi, I’m Isabelle! It’s so nice to meet you!” I wrote on a paper as I introduced myself to this hardworking factory worker. She raised her head and smiled at me.

Her name is Yan Wang, she was born deaf, and is a working mom who is employed by Sichuan YOTO Rubber Engineering Co. Yan and I began a wonderful and silent interview although an unusual one as we wrote down our questions and answers regarding the interview on paper.

Yan is 45 years old and even though she is deaf, she was able to finish elementary school. Her first job as an adult was washing piles of dirty dishes in a restaurant. Years of washing dishes made her hands very coarse. Yan was paid 16.66 Yuan ($2.70) per day without health insurance benefits. Although this salary doesn’t seem very high by American standards it was supplemented with her husband’s meager earnings selling cattle grass.

Their income was barely enough to feed their family. Yan’s life turned over a new page when she became a worker at the rubber factory. Now she doesn’t need to worry about her next meal any more, nor her family’s health insurance.

So how did YOTO change Yan’s life? I found the answer after learning about the company. YOTO produces rubber products for airplanes, metal fences, and furniture. It covers 20,000 square meters, and produced $6 million worth of products this year. The value of products produced is predicted to be well above $12 million in 2015.

Forty percent of the company’s frontline workers are composed of disabled people. These workers have varied backgrounds. Some people were born disabled, while some were injured in earthquakes. The YOTO staff is always the first ones on an earthquake relief team.

These disabled workers’ general educational levels are middle school to ninth grade. Before coming to YOTO, most disabled workers were farmers, dishwashers, or simply relied on benefits from the government. About 1,200 Yuan ($200) was their maximum earning potential per month. Most companies wouldn’t hire these diligent workers, but YOTO helped them to become qualified employees.

YOTO is both a factory and a training school, and it trains future employees for free. The China Disabled Persons Federation (CDPF), an organization for disabled people in China, sends members who are capable of do factory work to YOTO. Healthy people take a few weeks to master all techniques needed to work at YOTO, but disabled people can take up to half a year to learn their skills. Yan took only three months to learn the trimming skill she needed to become a qualified worker, so she concentrated and persevered. Mr. Zhou, the owner of the factory, complimented Yan saying, “She can trim products with more efficiency and quality than workers without disabilities.”

When training is over some students become YOTO workers, and others go back to the CDPF for other jobs. Zhou taught his managers and employees to respect the disabled people. Additionally, every new worker at YOTO has to learn sign language in order to communicate with the deaf employees. Zhou told me there has never been a fight between employees in his company because they are united in their task to succeed, although sometimes the workers would gather in his office and ask for a higher wage!

Mr. Zhou highly considers the welfare of his employees and gives jobs to disabled workers according to their health conditions. People who can’t hear won’t get dangerous jobs working with machinery. These people mostly work in the trimming room. People who have physical disabilities such as a humpback can work with cooling machines that don’t comprise heat danger.

Mr. Zhou’s employees are grateful for the health insurance benefits and love their jobs. They feel needed and capable at the YOTO Company. The CEO also supports annual sports events such as table tennis and tug-of-war. All workers join and enjoy these competitive events. Disabled people at YOTO never feel disabled; they win in these sports events just like other workers without disabilities.

Most workers in the factory work twelve hours a day. Yan’s day starts at 6 a.m. She works until 12 a.m., and then she takes a lunch break. Yan hangs out with her good friends, Li and Pei during lunch. They both have disabilities, but they understand each other in their hearts.

Pei is 17 years old and the youngest worker in the factory. Pei can’t hear, so everybody in the factory calls Yan “big deaf” and Pei “Little Deaf.” Another factory worker, Li, is 35 years old and she has rickets, but it doesn’t affect her work efficiency. All three of these people work in the same part of the factory. They support one another, encourage each other, and even compete with each other.

Mr. Zhou often gives his workers a chance to earn more money. When some machines or products need to be fixed, Mr. Zhou gives this job to several workers, the most efficient ones can earn most money. This is a smart method; workers are motivated to challenge themselves. Competition in work efficiency only draws these three friends closer.

Yan has two sons, who are 17 and 12 years old.  Even though she and her husband both can’t hear, her sons are perfectly healthy and can hear. According to Yan, her sons take good care of themselves. Yan and her husband have to leave home early and return late due to their work. Her sons do their homework, cook for themselves, complete chores, and finally play with their friends. Yan, however, still worries about her kids. She often leaves the factory early to go home and see how her sons are doing. Mr. Zhou has a good plan for those who want to leave early. He allows workers in the cutting room to take products home, and work on them while they are at home. Therefore, workers like Yan can be both at home and getting paid for the work they do. There is a requirement for those who want to take this advantage. They must keep up their quality of work. Also, this benefit is only given to the disabled workers.

Yan has already worked in the factory for a year and half. She told me firmly that she is happy working in this factory. This workplace has taken a lot of pressure off her. Her whole family’s health insurance is paid by the factory, and her retirement fee is settled.

Yan earns about 1,800 Yuan per month. This salary was thought to be impossible to earn before. Today, Yan has a TV, refrigerator, washing machine, phone, and a house of her own. In a middle class family, these items are considered necessities but for Yan, they are extravagances.

Yan smiles a great deal now and is so very thankful for her job.  Her smile is simple, and pure. Although she can’t hear the noises of the earth, she has her own inner peace. There are no vacations or entertainment, but she is happy, and her life is full. She doesn’t understand most of my questions, but our interview was still a masterpiece. We can’t communicate perfectly, but I can understand her satisfaction in her job, and her gratefulness for life.