Shop Brazil

I come from the countryside in northern Brazil. My father decided to live the dream – he moved to London to save money for a better life back home.

I came and joined him as a student. But I didn’t study much – I went to school for a while, then I started to work as a cleaner. It was good – I was 20 years old, making money, partying, enjoying life. But after a while I realised it wasn’t what I wanted. So I decided to save money to start my own business.

Images: Elzbieta Piekacz

I wanted to create a place where Brazilians and South Americans could feel at home. We buy products direct from South America and we prepare them just like in Brazil. So when people come here, they feel comfortable – they talk, they joke. We know each other like neighbours. We come together as a community.

I opened my shop in February 2020 – then the pandemic hit. For me, it was like: ‘Oh my God, what did I do? What’s going to happen now?’ It was good because people were desperate to buy food. But at the same time, people weren’t going out, so they weren’t able to find me, and I don’t have an online shop. But I survived it, I’m improving and I’m learning.