It all started during one business meeting organised by MZP “Lewiatan”, where I met Maria Kucińska from ROPS – Regionalny Ośrodek Pomocy Społecznej (Regional Center for Social Policy).
She mentioned that it was possible to establish cooperation between businesses and people whose work focuses on something more than just profit – people who want to work despite various, not always favorable, life circumstances. At the time, I had no idea that this meeting would be the beginning of something special
A few weeks later, my Local Team of WordCamp Europe 2026 was wondering what to give to the organizers and speakers of WordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Europe, who were coming to Kraków from all over the world in June 2026. Then I recalled my conversation with Maria, combined with a fondness for mascots that had grown over several WCEU WordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event. organizers’ meetings, and something clicked.
I reached out to her and asked if she could help me connect with people who could make Wapuu. She put me in touch with Ms. Dorota from Warsztat Terapii Zajęciowej (the Occupational Therapy Workshop) at 3 Basztowa Street in Kraków, so I arranged a meeting.
When I arrived, I instantly felt I was in the right place. The kindness of the people I met there, combined with the realization that we, as the WordPress community, could help them, got us moving quickly. The results exceeded my expectations – the prototype of Wapuu was already waiting for me, which made my day! I simply couldn’t resist it. And since a charming Dragon was created as the second prototype it was … accepted as well!
From order to handmade mascot
At that moment, production kicked off at the Workshop on Basztowa Street. But it didn’t involve setting up a few machines, threading spools, or uploading templates into software. Instead, real people divided the process into dozens of smaller steps so that everyone could get involved (and given the scale of the order and the tight deadline, they actually had to).
Some traced patterns, others cut them out, and others stitched or stuffed the mascots. Meanwhile, the embroidery machine did its job (that part is automated), but someone had to supervise it – changing the pieces of fabric, stretching them over the embroidery hoops, and catching stray threads.
Sure, this could have been done in a factory somewhere far away, but then our Wapuus and Dragons would have just been another mass-produced item. By outsourcing the job to the Occupational Therapy Workshop, many people were able to use their skills during production, giving each mascot a deeper meaning. We got handmade mascots, and people with intellectual disabilities got work and an income that will support their social integration.
I brought them home a week before the WCEU (which instantly attracted my cat Toffee’s attention, so I had to store them very carefully!) 😄
During WCEU Wapuus and Dragons reached the organizers, speakers, and table leads of Contributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/. Seeing their reactions, I’m certain that the Wapuus and Dragons will be widely appreciated, and will give these people every reason to return to Kraków.
Every order placed with the Workshop is also an investment in the development of people with intellectual disabilities, fostering their independence and ultimately giving them a chance at employment. It is also a reminder that people with intellectual disabilities are not only individuals in need of care, and they have far more to offer. Thanks to this, together we can change the world and make it more open, accessible, and less driven by stereotypes and prejudice.
As for me, I already know what I’m going to do with swag for WordCamp Kraków 2027 😄
