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MEET CHANTAL FERNANDES, FOR WHOM HELPING OTHERS IS SECOND NATURE ✦ “Charity isn’t about pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same - with charity you give love, so don’t just give money but reach out your hand instead.” Mother Teresa
✶ Chantal Fernandes
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Smiles of the Good Shepherd Phuket Town
T
hese wonderfully spoken words go a long way to describing one individual whose ongoing efforts helping others less fortunate displays a sensitivity and kindness of human nature that cannot, arguably, be measured or bettered. For close to two decades, Chantal Fernandes has selflessly given and strived to help others who have often found themselves in desperate situations. The UK native now resides in the island paradise of Phuket, Thailand, which she has called home for over 25 years. With a successful career behind her in hospitality, she was recently bestowed the position of Honorary British Counsel in Phuket, emphasising
how trusted and respected she is within the local community. She started volunteer work around 2002 with the Life Home Project Foundation, a non-profit organisation that helps “women and children suffering from HIV/AIDS in Thailand to have a better life with a caring home, educational opportunities and access to treatment.” However, it was the devastating Tsunami in 2004 that decimated numerous countries in the Indian Ocean region, leaving almost 230,000 people dead, that really impacted Chantal. Phuket was hit hard and she could not sit by and hear the woeful tales of struggle devastating her adopted home without doing something.
