01/09/2026
💪🏻
https://www.facebook.com/share/19EvS4pX3g/?mibextid=wwXIfr
After facing rejection after rejection in the traditional job market, four friends with Down syndrome decided to create opportunities for themselves.
Mateo Kawaguchi, Leandro López Padros, Franco Noseda and Mauricio Rolden, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, joined forces to launch Los Perejiles, a mobile pizza-catering business.
Rather than waiting for a restaurant to give them a chance, they took their food directly to customers.
Equipped with everything they needed, the team began travelling to private parties and corporate events, preparing fresh dough and baking artisanal pizzas on-site.
The idea quickly took off.
Within just one year, Los Perejiles had grown to a team of 24 workers, providing employment, greater financial independence and a sense of purpose for people who can often face barriers in the conventional workplace.
After struggling to find a place at someone else’s table, they created their own—then fired up the oven and got to work.