The Power of Love

Joao Pereira de Souza, a retired bricklayer and part time fisherman who lives in an island village just outside Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, found a tiny penguin, covered in oil and close to death lying on the rocks on his local beach in 2011.

The 71 year-old man cleaned the oil off the penguin’s feathers and fed him a daily diet of fish to build his strength and named him Dindim.

Joao tried to release the penguin back to the sea, but the penguin just wouldn’t leave. He stayed with the man for 11 months and then just after he changed his coat with new feathers, he disappeared. After a few months Dindim came back to Rio de Janeiro and followed the fisherman home again after finding him on the beach.

Dindim has spent eight months of every year for the past five years with Joao. Joao believes that Dindim spends the rest of the months of each year, breeding off the coast of Argentina and Chile.

They believe that Dindim has to travel up to 5,000 miles each year to be back with the man he loves who saved his life.

The power of love astounds me every time I hear a story of miracle. And believe me, this is a miracle. There are stories every day to amaze us on the power of love that exists every single day. I think everyone reading this knows who above provides these “miracles”.

Keep faith and believe the best of everyone around you, even when it doesn’t seem like someone is out there watching over us. Like the love we have for our spouses, parents, siblings and children, even animals are capable of the feeling of love and devotion. Traveling 5,000 miles each year to be with this gentle and caring man expresses that love.

–Dr Fredda Branyon