Wando de Araujo arrived in Ireland with a slip of paper in his pocket bearing a single word: "Roscommon." He will never forget what followed, writes Chris Dooley.
The now 31-year-old father of three had heard of Roscommon and its growing Brazilian community while searching two years ago for a safe environment in which to raise his children.
He wrote it down, got on a plane, and flew to Dublin.
At the time, May 2001, he did not speak English, knew nobody in Ireland, had organised no place to live and had no prospect of a job. Nothing to go on but the word "Roscommon".
When he showed his slip of paper to the taxi at the head of the airport rank, the driver declined to take him. "The second driver said 'OK' and put my bag in the boot of the car," Mr de Araujo recalls. But then the driver asked where in Roscommon he wanted to go.
Apart from the language barrier, "I didn't know then there was a county and a town both called Roscommon. I was completely lost. So he just took the bag back out of the boot and left it on the footpath."
The third driver proved more understanding and agreed to take him to Roscommon, for a fare which came to $130. "I will never forget that," he says. "The driver was a nice person and when we got to Roscommon he helped me to find a Brazilian. He started by asking in hotels. I remember it was raining at the time."
After a short search, he was put in touch with a Brazilian man who found him shared accommodation with a fellow Brazilian and an Irish couple.
After two weeks of job-seeking, he found employment at Molloy's Bakery, where he continues to work today. There are five other Brazilians on the staff.
Five months later, Mr de Araujo's wife, Edilaine, and children Bruna (now 14), Bianca (10) and Leonardo (8) joined him. Leonardo likes playing Gaelic football but prefers soccer.
The family had lived comfortably on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, where Mr de Araujo had his own pharmacy company. But he could not afford to send his children to a private school there and was worried about the level of violence in state schools.
"It's difficult to live in Brazil," he says. "It's a beautiful country but there is so much violence that it's a difficult place for children to grow up. Here they can walk down the town and you don't have to worry."
Edilaine also works at Molloy's, in the shop attached to the bakery. The couple hope to stay in Ireland at least until Bruna finishes third-level education. "I'm hoping to go to college to study astronomy, biology - or to be a vet! I can't decide," she says. "And when I finish I intend to go back to Brazil and make my life there."