For months they knocked at the door of the world of work and received no. They finally stopped waiting for someone to offer them a place and decided to create it.
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, four friends with Down syndrome — Mateo Kawaguchi, Leandro López Padros, Franco Noseda and Mauricio Rolden — joined forces giving rise to Los Perejiles.
The idea was concrete: a mobile catering service specialized in pizza.
Instead of opening a restaurant and waiting for the arrival of the customers, they would go directly to the people.
Equipment, dough and everything necessary were transported to the place of the event. Private parties and corporate appointments thus became their work space, where to prepare and cook craft pizzas directly in front of guests.
The formula worked.
Within just a year, what had begun by the initiative of four friends came to involve a team of 24 workers.
And this is where Los Perejiles' story becomes something more than an entrepreneurial affair.
For people who may encounter obstacles in access to the traditional labour market, having an occupation means not only receiving a salary. It can mean conquering greater economic autonomy, responsibility and the concrete possibility of demonstrating its capabilities.
Mateo, Leandro, Franco and Mauricio had left just a problem: finding someone willing to give them an opportunity.
Their answer was not to keep waiting.
They created a service, found customers and started working.
Sometimes a door that remains closed too long does not necessarily mark the end of the road.
It can become the reason to build a new one.