The cafeteria of a spa in Acapulco trains people with Down syndrome and hires them as pastry chefs

A cafe located in the resort town of Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero, in southern Mexico, employs people with Down syndrome teach them how to prepare cookies as a method of inclusion and make them economically active.

The cafeteria "Miel y Canela" is a company created by mothers of children with Down syndrome, a genetic alteration of the chromosomes of pair 21 which causes intellectual and developmental delays, which, worried for them, decided to give them a chance to defend themselves.

"This project is for them to develop, to develop a product that allows them improve the economy of their homes ", he said Efe in an interview, the project manager of inclusion, Diana de la Peña.

The goal of the project, he said, is to include people with a developmental disability in the workplacethey learn new skills and are economically active in their families.

"The children are very happy, motivated, they like the activity and they feel useful, "added De la Peña.

For Rosalba Carbajal, mother of one of the youngest bakers, the project "it's something very novelespecially because these children are not considered to be practicing any activity. "

He stated that the idea was born so that each of the people with different abilities "could develop the necessary skills fend for yourself in everyday life. "

Composed of 12 members working in the kitchens of a department, this project started and did not receive the help needed to settle in a specific place. Sell ​​your products in schools, businesses or public places.

For project members, the medium-term goal is that the cafeteria is composed by themselves to make the company realize that they can also be part of the jobs.

"Society must be aware that these guys they can do a lot more of what we can think, "said De la Peña.

To achieve this goal, they will try to have two days of production per week, this to be able to give more young people the opportunity to work and thus increase the revenue of cookies and try to evolve with the project.

Although "Honey and Cinnamon" was first and foremost designed to help young people with mental disabilities, within the group there are people from 20 to 47 and although this is a marked difference, they all have the same dream: to feel integrated in society.

"We do everything, do everything we can (our best effort) distribute, buy and win"he said to Efe the pastry Francisco Torreblanca.

Although they can sometimes be tired after six hours of work in preparing cookies consisting of beating, kneading, cutting, decorating and baking, satisfaction and happiness are reflected in the face of the finished product.

"My daughter gets up very happy, preparing her things the day before in her backpack, her apron, her hat, her gloves and her mask, I want you to feel useful and develop another skill to make it independent, "said Carbajal.

Down syndrome is a genetic disorder. In her, the person has 47 chromosomes instead of the usual 46. Most cases have an extra copy of chromosome 21, which is why it is also called "trisomy 21".

Globally, it is estimated that the incidence of this syndrome is between 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 1,100 Newborns

According to preliminary data from the Directorate General of Health Information in 2018, in Mexico, 351 girls and 338 children were born (689 in total) with Down syndrome.