Alto Hospicio joins efforts to increase inclusion in partnership with SQM and the Miradas Compartidas Foundation

The municipality of Alto Hospicio has enthusiastically joined in the collaborative work on inclusion that is being done by the Miradas Compartidas Foundation and SQM following the signing of an agreement to develop two important programs that will benefit children and young people with disabilities from Colegio Simón Bolívar.

The agreement seeks to encourage technical and job training for the school’s special education graduates and to promote sports among the student community.

“We are very pleased to receive a visit from such an important company and from the Miradas Compartidas Foundation to sign this collaboration agreement, which seeks to include individuals who are often overlooked. This is a major step forward, and we hope to show the results of this great partnership as soon as possible,” Alto Hospicio Mayor Patricio Ferreira explained.

SQM Director of Iodine Nitrate Communities and Public Affairs Pablo Pisani said, “We are pleased by how warmly Alto Hospicio and its mayor have received us. The signing of this agreement is a first step towards working on topics of labor inclusion and developing skills through sports. That’s why we will continue to work with the municipality and the foundation on a set of collaborative initiatives. All of this is part of our Sustainability Plan, which focuses on the comprehensive development of the residents of local communities. We work with them through various initiatives to sustainably develop their territories.”

The agreement includes the program Vertebra, which seeks to prepare and provide professional connections to individuals with disabilities. The medium-term plans include the program Recrea, an effort to design and build recreational areas for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

“We have had a presence in the Tarapacá Region towns of Huara and Pozo Almonte since 2021, and we are very pleased to include Alto Hospicio in this work beginning in 2022. We also hope to add more towns from this great region in order to continue to implement inclusion nationally. We have been doing this work in northern Chile since 2018 thanks to SQM,” said Fernando Palacios of Miradas Compartidas.

The Miradas Compartidas Foundation develops social and labor projects for individuals with intellectual disabilities through athletics, the arts, education and technical training programs. SQM has worked with the entity for the past four years in Antofagasta, and also extended its efforts to Tocopilla and María Elena. Alto Auspicio was added following the partnership’s positive results in the Tarapacá Region, specifically in Pozo Almonte and Huara.