We are a non-profit organization with almost 60 years of history, working for the inclusion and well-being of people with hearing disabilities in Colombia. Our mission is to provide quality care and a rights-based approach to the hearing-impaired population and their families, through specialized Health and Comprehensive Training services that strengthen the construction of worthy life projects.
We have developed our own education model called inverse inclusion. It brings together students with hearing disabilities and some cognitive ones with students with no disabilities. This is possible at our Montessori kindergarten, elementary and high school, located in the Chia municipality, Colombia. We have children aged 3 to 17 years old from more than 10 municipalities of the Cundinamarca region.
In addition, as part of the model, we count with a program for extra-age students (18 to 25 years old) called Sketching my Future, which promotes entrepreneurial tools and knowledge for disabled students. They develop productive skills to structure their own family entrepreneurship and life project.
We have found this model not only as really inclusive and socially cohesive, but as one that successfully contributes in developing all the students’ 21-century skills. We have evidence from our graduated students during the last 10 years, showing positive occupation rates and personal development indicators; compared to the national rates from people with their same hearing conditions.
