Brazilians are well known for being warm, bubbly and very welcoming – not least to other Brazilians who are just starting out in East London.
Welcoming venues around here include restaurants, hairdressers, butchers’, grocery stores and especially the Brazilian church.
Saint Anne’s Catholic Church is located in Underwood Road, Whitechapel.
For those only recently arrived in Britain, it is very comforting to celebrate Mass in their native language, Portuguese. But Brazilians also come here to celebrate festive days with their friends and loved ones, eat the Brazilian food, buy goods and if needed, seek help.
In the church hall, there is a massive board on the wall with lots of small notes carefully placed so everyone who passes by can see what is written on each of them. In these notes, there are people offering help with jobs, food and places to stay. There are also small ads for small businesses. And people write notes asking for help with jobs or almost anything else they may need.
At the church hall I met a young man called Jean who told me what a blessing it was when he first arrived.
”I am forever thankful for what the Brazilian community did for me. When I first arrived in London in 2013 I didn’t have a place to sleep, food to eat or a friend to help me out. I came with a bag full of clothes and a heart full of hope. Here in this church, they offered me shelter and food, they even helped me finding a job. Now I’m fine and I come here every Sunday offering the newcomers my help because I know how it feels to be here alone.”
The church other than being a place where people go to in order to pray, is also a very helpful and joyful environment to spend time in, even if you don’t happen to be Brazilian.
Gabriela Fabretti