A real working experience on the Day of Down Syndrome
Today is the 21st of March and it is not only the first day of spring but also the World Down Syndrome Day. And just like each 21st of March over these past several years, we have had some extra help in our store in Estafeta Street in Pamplona. Sandra López Huertas, a 22 year-old, has come in to spend the morning helping us to classify our products; folding and ordering our tee shirts and dealing with the general public alongside our habitual shop assistant, Maitane. In short, experiencing a real life working morning.
A total of some 50 commercial premises located around the old quarter of Pamplona have joined in the initiative “Giving employment to people”, jointly sponsored for the sixth consecutive year by the Navarra Down Syndrome Association and the Commercial and Services Association of the Old Quarter of Pamplona. This year, they have come up with a slogan “Working towards equality through the concept of difference.” .The campaign wishes to make the general public and the business community in particular aware of the importance of trying to include true equality in the spheres of work, education, and social equality.
Dressed in a ‘Marymoto’ tee shirt, which she herself had chosen, Sandra threw herself fully into her morning tasks in the Kukuxumusu store. As well as folding and ordering the T-shirts, and attending to the customers, Sandra also looked after the musical selection on offer this morning in the store. And indeed, it was a pretty nice selection of music, with a special spot going to the popular singer, Rihanna, who Sandra confesses, is one of her favorites.
As well as Kukuxumusu, some fifty other commercial establishments participated in this laudable initiative. Besides the commercial stores, these also included some bars, parking lots and even a veterinarian clinic. In all of these premises, there has been a person, boy or girl, working as part of this Itaca Project to remind us and to make us aware that there are many people who could lead a more independent and normal lifestyle if they are just given the chance to do so.
