News Five years after leaving Haiti and beginning a new life in northern Brazil, Abdias Dolce carried the Olympic Torch through the streets of Manaus on Sunday (19 June) Dolce said he was representing over 40,000 immigrants from Haiti who came to Brazil following the earthquake that devastated their home country in 2010 “I feel at home in Manaus The locals have welcomed me since I first arrived” Abdias Dolce Dolce has adapted well to life in this distant city which lies on the Amazon river in the midst of the tropical rainforest He has learnt Portuguese rapidly and has found it easy to settle into the Brazilian way of life; his three favourite things in his new country are carnival, football and country music "In the very first month I arrived I felt better than I did in Haiti," he said "People here have welcomed us very well " Dolce is just one of a large community of his countrymen and women who now live in Manaus  Father Valdecy Molinari, the priest of a local church that helps immigrants, estimates that about 10,000 people from Haiti have passed through the city since 2010 Two thousand remain there, he says, while the others have travelled on to other parts of Brazil in search of employment The 19th-century opera house, made with marble from Italy and steel from Scotland, is the most celebrated landmark of Manaus (Photo: Rio 2016/André Luiz Mello) The church helped Dolce find one of his first jobs, working in a bureau de change In his spare time, he is studying chemical engineering and also helps the church with new immigrants   Dolce's life has taken a turn for the better since the arrival of his long-term girlfriend from Haiti, Regenie Michel One year ago the couple celebrated their wedding and they now have an infant son, Akeen George They have also opened a store which provides services to the city's immigrant community, such as international phone calls and internet access "Leaving Haiti was the best thing that I could have done in my life," Dolce says "I am able to work, study and help my mother and other members of my family " "This year I will complete my studies and I hope to find work in my area I would like to bring my mother here to spend some time with me "