Meet Fernando – Contributor

Fernando De Assis is an ex-Restaurateur who left his successful business in the city of London,  back in 2010, to dedicate himself to his great passion: managing a charity concerned with the welfare of  stray cats and dogs in the streets of Recife, in Brazil. London is his home and he is currently studying ‘The Knowledge’ (street maps of the Greater City of London), to became a taxi driver. He  enjoys yoga, vipassana meditation and shares his home with his two cats, Nina and Amy… He continues to explore the wonders of life.

In his own words:

What prompted you tell your story in ‘Love Me As I Am’?

I wanted to tell people that sometimes, by just being who are, you can unfortunately become a victim of the most horrendous abuse by the hands of those who are supposed to protect you. Sadly, our parents are not always the best roll-models to teach us about ethics and morals. But it is possible to survive our circumstances, to move forward with our lives and leave the past behind. Ethics and morals, in my view, are already a part of who you are from the day that you are born — it comes as a complete package and it carries on to shape and form us all through our lives.

How did sharing your story impact your life?

I am no longer ashamed of what I have gone through or the things I had to survived. I am now be proud of who I am and how I scrubbed up and I will continue to embrace the lessons that life throws at me… For me, there are no losses, only gains.