I'm very sorry about your situation, your story made me feel sad. You know, here in Argentina things aren't so different.
But don't worry, just get a new job. Search for telecommute jobs at jobs.perl.org, and send your resume to every Portuguese advertising agency that you can find in the web. I work for some Spanish agencies that pay me in euros :-)
The best thing of being self-employed? You can manage your time to get a life. The worst thing? Usually you don't manage your time and finish working on weekends.
Un abrazo.

José