Argentina: opportunities for children with disabilities
When Gonzalo Motta started his internship at Volkswagen, he was one of the first interns with an intellectual disability at an industrial company in Córdoba, Argentina. “My father worked at the plant,” says the now 38-year-old, who has Down syndrome.
At the time, there was a program that offered entry-level opportunities for employees' children. "But I never would have imagined," Gonzalo's father recalls, "that Gonzalo could work in a company with such demanding training." Gonzalo eventually became a colleague of his father – and still works there today. His parents played a major role in this, fostering his strengths from the beginning, as did the APADIM project, which is supported by Terre des Hommes together with the Volkswagen Employee Foundation.
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APADIM has been working for many years to give people with disabilities access to their rights. This is urgently needed in Argentina, where 86 percent of people with a disability card are unemployed. In Germany, the figure is twelve percent. APADIM's guiding principle is that people are not disabled by nature, but rather by circumstances that affect them. Therefore, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, APADIM has developed an inclusive curriculum. This enables children with disabilities to attend mainstream schools or to obtain a state-recognized qualification at special needs schools.
APADIM provides them with support throughout this process. For example, APADIM staff support 27 children with disabilities in their daily school life at a mainstream school. At the same time, 120 young people with disabilities can complete vocational training at APADIM, for example, in baking, printing, or arts and crafts. Gonzalo completed a printing apprenticeship at APADIM, gaining the necessary skills and self-confidence to later succeed at Volkswagen.
Opportunities for children with disabilities
In addition to vocational training, APADIM empowers the young people in the project to know their rights and stand up for them. Therefore, the three-year training program includes workshops on civil and labor rights. APADIM's
goal is for inclusion to become the norm, enabling all children to live lives of dignity, regardless of physical characteristics. Gonzalo is an example of APADIM's successful work. After work, he goes swimming or acts in a theater group comprised of actors with and without disabilities. And he plans to marry his fiancée, Trini, whom he has been with for many years, soon.