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A social enterprise providing training and employment opportunities for adults with disabilities who would otherwise be living in poverty 

Enjoy this 3 minute video! Or visit Artizan Peru in person at : 202 Calle Espinar, Yanahuara, Arequipa, Peru.   ( You can also find it in Spanish at the bottom of this page).

All about the Artizan Peru Crafts Centre & Cafe 

People with disabilities in the developing world are amongst the poorest of the poor, due to the stigma attached to having a disability, which makes it extremely hard to get training or employment. Consequently, the majority of disabled people are consigned to a life of poverty, living on the margins of their societies. Artizan International is working to change this, by providing training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities, enabling them to support themselves and their families with dignity and pride.

Our centre in Arequipa, Peru, is housed in a beautiful old building we've remodelled to include crafts training spaces, a fair-trade shop in which to sell the artisans' work, and a new cafe which we opened in December 2023. 
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Here we provide training for people with physical disabilities in high-quality jewellery and textiles, and also training for young deaf people in cafe hospitality skills, screen printing, mosaics and sewn textiles too. Our physically disabled artisans come to the Artizan centre once a week to receive training and materials, plus an opportunity for meeting up with their friends and colleagues. For many of them, it may be the only time they leave the house, so this is a vital opportunity for some social interaction, fun and fellowship. They then use the skills, equipment and materials we've given them, to work from home, as this is much easier for them than travelling to a place of work each day.  We pay the artisans every week for the work they've done, allowing them to support themselves and their families with dignity and pride in their work. ​

The Artizan Peru Cafe 

The centre also includes a wonderful cafe, entirely staffed by deaf people, which serves a variety of delicious freshly baked cakes, scones, soups, paninis, home-made lasagnas and vegetarian options, plus of course superb coffees and teas. It’s surely the only cafe in Peru where you can sample English-styles scones with thick whipped cream, jam and of course a pot of Yorkshire Tea, whilst enjoying the spectacular views from our roof terrace of El Misti snow-capped volcano on the horizon. 
The cafe is providing a vital opportunity for our trainees to learn all the skills associated with working in hospitality, whilst simultaneously helping to transform attitudes towards people with disabilities in the local community, as customers witness how capable and employable they are.  It’s a place of work and wonder, a beacon of light and hope in the community. ​

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Deaf people in Peru are among the poorest and most vulnerable in their society, excluded from employment due to the stigma of having a disability.

Most deaf Peruvians don't even finish school because they cannot afford to, or they live too far away from the very few schools for the deaf. The vast majority are unemployed or receive lower than minimum wage. Their life is a daily struggle of trying to understand and be understood, as almost no-one knows any sign language. They are often looked down upon by hearing society and live in the poorest parts of the cities, travelling long distances to seek work, usually to no avail, consigning them to a life of poverty. 

Joel & Ivette, with their young son, are all profoundly deaf. The couple have been looking for work for a very long time and are extremely relieved to have finally found training & employment at the Artizan centre in Peru. They will both be working in the new cafe, and Ivette will also be making sewn  products too for the shop. This will finally allow them to support  themselves and their 2 children with dignity and pride.

Our new cafe, based at our Artizan Peru Centre in the beautiful mountain city of Arequipa, provides vital vocational training and employment for deaf people who long for these opportunities, giving them hope and a future, whilst also changing negative attitudes towards them in their local society. We've done this successfully before with our deaf-run cafe in Tanzania. This has had a profoundly positive effect on local attitudes to deaf people, as well as providing full-time employment for many deaf people in the town of Iringa where it's based. 

Our menus are in Spanish, English and sign language symbols, so our customers can learn to communicate with their deaf waiter or waitress, breaking down barriers between deaf and hearing people in their community. The cafe is becoming a beacon of light and hope for deaf people and for all the other people with disabilities that the centre serves, with it's shop, cafe and crafts workshops. The cafe is the final step that will bring the wider community into closer contact with our artisans, opening their eyes to how capable and employable they are. This means that in time, other local employers will consider employing deaf people too, whereas before this would have been unthinkable. 

After 4 years of fundraising, we've already purchased a beautiful old building in Arequipa to house the centre, and have refurbished the spaces to a high standard. The cafe space has a large downstairs area and a roof top terrace with incredible views of the snow-capped volcanoes on the horizon.  We would love to have more support to help with core costs and training materials as the cafe becomes established however. To support this work, along with all the other work that we do in the UK, Ecuador and Peru, please make a general donation to Artizan International by clicking the donate button above, or email us to find out more about supporting Peru specifically: [email protected] 

Maribel's Story ... 

Maribel’s Story: Maribel was one of the first artisans we trained & equipped to make beautiful beadwork. When she first started working with us, her little family was supported by her father. Soon after joining us, her father died. Vitally, as Maribel was now earning an income working with Artizan, she was able to help support herself, her mother and sister. Being able to provide for her family has given her a new standing in her community and enabled her family to survive many challenges. She makes beautiful beaded jewellery, including these spiral bracelets, which are sold in our crafts shop at the Artizan Peru centre. 

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Karita Inacio, left, our project leader in Peru.

Find us at : 

202 Calle Espinar, Yanahuara, Arequipa, Peru. 
Just 5 minutes' walk from the Yanahuara Plaza and famous mirador (viewpoint) .