Mateo Kawaguchi, Leandro López, Mauricio, and Franco knocked on door after door in Buenos Aires looking for a job. No one wanted to hire them. The reason was always the same: they had Down syndrome.
Instead of giving up, in 2016 they came up with their own answer: Los Perejiles, a pizza service for events that they cook and run themselves. The first event brought together 50 people. With the support of Gaby, Mateo’s mother, word of mouth did the rest: in their first year, they covered around 250 parties, serving up to 600 people.
Today, the story is no longer just about the four of them. Twenty more people with Down syndrome joined the team, seeking the same thing as its founders: decent work and the independence that the job market had denied them.