Four young people with different abilities has been hired to work at different departments in the Ministry of Health (Minsa in Spanish) thanks to an agreement reached with the Centro Ann Sullivan del Perú (CASP).
Peruvian Minister of Health, Oscar Ugarte Ubilluz and CASP Director, Liliana Mayo, signed this important document in the presence of these young people with autism and their families. Ernesto Salamanca, a blind physician who gives free health information over the phone in the Office for Health Defender and Transparency at Minsa, was present at the agreement signing ceremony.
Minsa has become the first public institution in Peru to hire people with different abilities and it is expected that other public sector organizations follow suit.
This agreement is part of a plan to promote inclusion of these special people into the Ministry of Health, a policy the present administration supports.
19-year-old Martin Perez, 18-year-old Gustavo Quispe, 19-year-old Silvia Ochante and Robert Salas, 29, have been taken on to put a code on documents, file them or do any task that has been assigned to them at the offices of Minsa.
“Today is an important day because we have fulfilled a promise we made some months ago. The ministry has adopted an open door policy for people with different abilities, and as a result the number of people who work for our institution increases. We hope that more people like them join Minsa”, Ugarte Ubillus affirmed.
On the other hand, the Director of the Centro Ann Sullivan of Peru specified that specialists of the supported employment program would teach tasks to these young people until they could do by themselves. She added that from now on “the Health Minister is a minister with a big heart.”
We are grateful to Minister Oscar Ugarte for this great opportunity. Other authorities promised to find a job for our students but they didn’t keep their word. However, the Ministry of Health honors it and becomes a pioneer in giving our young people with different abilities the opportunity to work for his institution,” affirmed Dr. Mayo.
This program allows our students to improve their self-esteem and relationships with other people, develop new skills, participate in community activities and improve their quality of life through a salary that provides economic independence.
At present, 100 students of CASP work at 33 important companies, while other 72 students are included into 52 regular schools. In the last two years, more than 12,000 parents and professionals working with people with different abilities have been trained in 22 departments of Peru, and in 10 Latin America and European countries, through a new distance learning program using Internet.
