05/08/2026
Sharing with thanks post by DG Michael Chiew in our WhatsApp group...from Project Nightfall
In our previous SEN Conference 2021, we invited Malaysia's Mohd Adli Yahya, Founder of Autism Café Project as a panelist. He is successfully building an ecosystem of entrepreneurs in various fields.❤
Last year at SEN Conference 2025 we invited H.E. Rocky J. Pesik (Pak Rocky Pesik) founder of Kopi Kamu as our panelist. His specialty coffee shop in South Jakarta (Kebayoran Baru) that champions workplace inclusion by employing individuals with Down syndrome as baristas and service staff in partnership with the POTADS community.❤
So let's help create opportunities for our special needs community as they have unseen strengths and unmatched brilliance.❤
Fatimah Saad Ivan Oh Rani Wemel Kiwanis Club of Taman Tun Dr Ismail
https://www.facebook.com/share/1Dnoj3KdZv/?mibextid=wwXIfr
In the Buenos Aires area of Argentina, four young friends—Mateo Kawaguchi, Franco Noseda, Leandro López Padros, and Mauricio Roldán—found themselves facing the same exhausting wall that millions of people with neurodivergent conditions hit every year.
Despite being fully capable, enthusiastic, and eager to build independent lives, the traditional job market kept turning them away. Every interview ended in silent rejections or polite excuses, simply because they had Down syndrome.
Feeling the weight of societal exclusion but refusing to let a diagnosis dictate their futures, the four friends decided to take matters into their own hands in 2016. Supported by their families and by a mentor—physical education teacher Leandro López, who coordinated the project through the Crecer Sumando association—they came up with a simple plan: if no existing business would hire them, they would launch their own.
They decided to make pizza.
They named their venture Los Perejiles Eventos (The Parsleys Events)—a playful, self-deprecating nod to a local Argentine slang term used to describe someone seen as unimportant or easily overlooked. Starting with zero catering experience and basic equipment, the four friends threw themselves into learning the craft. They mastered dough preparation, sauce recipes, baking times, and event hospitality. Instead of opening a static brick-and-mortar restaurant with high overhead costs, they turned Los Perejiles into a mobile catering company specializing in pizza parties for birthdays, corporate events, and private celebrations.
When they launched, their goal was straightforward: land enough gigs to support themselves and earn an honest living. But the quality of their food and the genuine joy, energy, and professionalism they brought to every event quickly caught the attention of local communities. Word spread rapidly across Argentina.
Their first booking was a modest affair, feeding about 50 guests at a birthday party. But within months, booking requests began flooding in. Soon, Los Perejiles was catering events for hundreds of people at a time, baking fresh, handcrafted pizzas on site and serving guests with an infectious level of enthusiasm.
As demand surged, the original four founders realized they were sitting on something much bigger than a successful catering business—they were holding the key to solving the exact problem that had locked them out of society in the first place.
Instead of keeping the business small, Mateo, Franco, Leandro, and Mauricio decided to expand with purpose. They began actively hiring other young adults with Down syndrome and various intellectual disabilities who were struggling to find employment. Every new hire was trained in pizza assembly, baking, customer service, and event logistics, proving that with the right environment and support, every individual can thrive in a workplace.
Over the years, Los Perejiles grew from a tiny four-person dream into a thriving catering business with dozens of staff members with special needs, catering hundreds of events—including some serving up to 600 guests at once. Mateo Kawaguchi even went on to represent Argentina at the World Pizza Championship in Parma, Italy, becoming the first person with Down syndrome ever to compete in the event—and placing 4th in the world in his category, the best result ever achieved by an Argentine competitor.
The journey of Los Perejiles shows what happens when people stop waiting for an invitation and build their own table instead. By turning rejection into fuel, four friends didn't just create a successful business—they built an engine of inclusion, proving that when given a fair chance, everyone has something valuable to bring to the plate.
