Fiorella Guerrero Calle holds a strong belief that all human beings have dignity and deserve to receive it through education. This conviction, in conjunction with her observation that children with disabilities are the most vulnerable of the vulnerable, has led her into a career of service to young people with disabilities in Peru and inspired her to apply for the ADA International Fellowship Program.Fiorella took part in the Fellowship while working at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima and has also worked for World Vision Peru. During her tenure at World Vision Peru, Fiorella designed and implemented various complementary projects and programs that improved quality of life expanded educational opportunities for children across Peru. Before joining World Vision Peru in 2013, Fiorella served as a Project Manager and Operations Engineer for multiple telecommunication service providers in her country. In 2019, she received a Fulbright Scholarship and returned to the United States to continue her studies.

Fiorella intended to use her Fellowship to promote the creation of comprehensive education centers for children with disabilities in poor areas throughout Peru. She has worked to improve the quality of services and infrastructure in urban areas surrounding Lima. Fiorella has focused her work upon an existing inclusive rehabilitation center for children with disabilities in Manchay, Peru, where she has strong connections. She also has leveraged her Fellowship experiences to support the creation of an entirely new rehabilitation and inclusive education center in the nearby district of Villa El Salvador, Peru.

Fiorella pursued her ADA International Fellowship training at the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Institute (MI-DDI) at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

To read Fiorella’s project progress report click here.