Sophonie Masumbuko is originally from Congo. He moved to the country in 1996 from Tanzania and lived in Congo as a refugee for 14 years. Due a civil war and international military conflict that was happening at the time, he and his family no longer had a place to live. So when immigration offered them the opportunity to move to the United States, they accepted.
The family moved to the U.S. in 2007, and Masumbuko got a job in our beef facility in Tolleson, Arizona, immediately upon his arrival. Back in Congo, he had worked only as a fisherman, but he was determined to do his best to learn the job and make a career and a life for himself.
He started as a tripe packer, and with his supervisor’s motivation to keep learning as much as he could, he later became a lead on that line. “JBS makes me feel like I can accomplish something for myself,” he said. His continued dedication to learning paid off again recently, when Masumbuko became Offal Supervisor.
Masumbuko speaks eight different languages and is known as a valuable team member for always helping his coworkers.
“When I came here to the United States, I didn’t have anything,” he said. “I worked hard, I was able to buy two houses back home, and I’m trying to buy another one here in the U.S. JBS changed my life.”