Project Launch:

"Café Caraz" was launched with World Connect’s support as a cafeteria for a special education school, "San Antonio de Padua" in Ancash, Peru. "Café Caraz" helps students and alumni learn essential life skills such as cooking, cleaning and managing money and allows students to further integrate into the community of Caraz. The program has demonstrated that it successfully prepares students for the next steps in life. Students who attend "San Antonio de Padua" typically live at home with their families upon graduating and do not work. The new café offers a way for these students to feel like contributing members of their families and of the community. With the café, a transition program 'Empleo con Apoyo' or 'Employment with Help' was created to teach students job skills such as taking food orders, busing tables, and washing dishes. This program raised awareness within the community of Caraz about the importance of inclusion and put the vast abilities of special education students on display, though Caraz still has much growing to do in terms of tolerance, acceptance, and including those with differing abilities. Offering students at San Antonio de Padua an opportunity to demonstrate their true potential greatly benefited the community of Caraz. Every student, no matter where in the world they study, should be given the opportunity to meet his or her own potential in life. "Café Caraz" provided one more opportunity to do so for these students.