Who I am?
WHERE I AM FROM?
I was born in Santiago in the Republic of Chile in 1970. During Pinochet´s coup in 1973 my father had to seek for asylum in the French embassy we therefore ended up in Paris in mid 74. While my dad was in the french embassy my mom passed and once we were in Paris he decided to send me to his brother who was in a better condition in Hungary.
I lived in Hungary for 2 years and then my father sent for me to Paris were we lived for a while at Cartier Latin and then followed to Mozambique. Those were the best days of my life! Then Pinochet allowed political refugee to go back home, by that time I was finishing my secondary school, since University was not an option in Maputo my father decided to sent me back to Chile to do my study. For someone who has lived this type of life it is difficult to decide were I am from,
I guess I could say that circumstances made me a son of the wind rose. Now I have lived in Algarve for a longer period than any other country I have lived in and since we are so many foreign resident I guess I could claim to be Algarvian!!!
WHY DID I CHOOSE VETERINARY MEDICINE?
My father and step mother are Veterinarians, I also have three vet uncles, one who is a teacher at the University of Evora, one who is retired as director of the Laboratory Bioterium of the Chilean Institute of Public Health and another who is retired as a Small Animal Practitioner expert in neurology and of course is the one that inspired me to follow this line. Basically I have always been surrounded by the veterinary world and although as a child I promised I would never be a Vet, because I did not want to be a drunk, I ended up taking the same steps due to the love and care I shared for animals with all my family members that surrounded me.
WHY CHOOSE HOMEOPATHY?
In Chile there were a few veterinarian Homeopaths I worked with that seemed to be very strange but enchanting people, they would always carry a big bag full of little bottles with sugar pills and always carried more books than any other person I would see, they really triggered big curiosity to anyone who dared ask them anything on any medical subject. They all had something else in common that amazed me, it was this shiny eyes, like when you find a treasure, they all seemed so passionate, so alive, that intrigued me forever. That is why I have always wanted to learn Homeopathy.
By the time I actually read a few books and even tried a few remedies, but I had nowhere to seek for studies. Time brought the best thing any man could wish for... a daughter... and when she started to have chronic recurrent coughs, I knew the conventional medicine approach of antibiotics that only seemed to palliate for a few weeks were actually making things worse as the cough moved into an otitis and then into a sinusitis. So instead of hoping I could find a better pediatrician as the disease was moving deeper into my daughter´s little body, I searched and discovered Dr Lehmann, a German retired pediatrician that was kind enough to take my daughters case and not only did he helped but he actually cured her from her chronic ailment and after curing her physical ailments he followed with her conducts that was also getting worse. That is when I decided I wanted to become a Homeopath and this is when I discovered George Vithoulkas (the 1996 Right Livelihood Award also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize) his teachings and Erik van Woensel´s teachings, who is also a mentor at the International Academy of Classical Homeopathy in Greece, made me the homeopath I am and still struggle to enhance.
MY STUDIES
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Chile and Hungary my kinder garden, France and Mozambique my Primary Scholarship, Mozambique and Chile my secondary scholarship.
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Veterinary Medicine at the University of Chile
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Diplomat on Small Animal Veterinary Medicine at the University of Chile
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Two years of specialization at the University of Bern for Veterinary Neurology
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Countless small courses in many places around Europe
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Classical Homeopathy at the International Academy for Classical Homeopathy with George Vithoulkas and Erik van Woensel in Greece
WHY PORTUGAL?
While living in Mozambique my dad fell in love with a women which he later married and since is my step mother (another vet!!!). She is Portuguese and since they ended up in Portugal I decided to follow the only thing we all know we need... family! Because home is were your loved ones are and although I had never lived in Portugal once I had fulfilled my studies and had done all my duties in my dear Chile I decided to follow the family path. I must admit they live up north but Algarve is not only close enough but also impossible to outshine!
António Silva, Stella owner
Nadia Ribas, Bobby owner