At Manila, a media event was held at the Uber Office, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016, where Uber's "Beethoven Initiative" was launched. This said "Beethoven Initiative" is a program that aims to help drivers with hearing-impaired disabilities.
For riders, Uber is a convenient, inexpensive and safe taxi service. With a tap of a button on their smartphone, customers can hire a private driver to pick them up at their location and take them to their desired destination.
For drivers, Uber provides exceptional pay while allowing the driver to be their own boss and lets them pick their own hours. Now, Uber is not only giving great services to customers and job opportunities to drivers, but is also providing more assistance to the hearing-impaired drivers with the Beethoven Initiative.
In the said event, Mike Eballa, was invited to share his story as an Uber driver. He recalled a story when on time he picked a group of young individuals in Manila. Mike overheard his passengers snickering about his hearing condition, and did not confront them about it. Instead, he just kept silent. The group did not know that Mike was not totally deaf, but only hearing-impaired.
According to Uber, 6 in every 1,000 households in the Philippines have a household member who is deaf, and this condition makes it hard for individuals with disabilities to find work. Uber also cited that there are 120,000 locals in the Philippines who have difficulty in finding work because of disability.
In the Beethoven Initiative, features are set for passenger and drivers to communicate. The features are: Flashing Trip Request, Text-only Communication and Hearing disability notification from the passenger.
Many people are very thankful and happy for Uber in launching this Beethoven Initiative. The reason why is because not only it gives job opportunities for people with disabilities and lets customers with disabilities avail of this service, it also makes them happy to be functioning well in the society without getting harassed or shamed.
