Isabelle Impala was born in Brazil but at the age of eight she moved to South Africa where she earned a scholarship and went on to study art. She met Joanna in Argentina and got married after two years. The birth of their second child didn’t dampen their relationship though and they continued to go on holiday together. In the mid 90’s Joanna came back to South Africa where she worked as a research associate at the University of Nairobi in Kenya.
Joanna’s husband came with her to South Africa and they had four children. In 1996 they retired to live in a small rural community and Joanna took on her Brazilian nationality. It didn’t really affect their lives much as they were busy doing what most people in Brazil do – enjoying their retirement. In fact, the only time that they would have to discuss their nationality was if somebody else in the family wanted to change their name.
Joanna and Isabelle did not discuss their race much as their children grew up in different racial cultures. Even though some people would have imagined that they wouldn’t have gone to an all white school, their children went to a mixed secondary school called Estado de Sociedade. They were very happily integrated into the community and Joanna raised her children as Brazilian. Isabelle grew up in the National Birth Order, which is a direct descendent of slavery in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Her husband died in 2021 and she now lives alone in her estate in Lisboa.