Miss Ana

Miss Ana was my nanny, having arrived at my house when I was 6 years old. She came from the north (Pará) to the south (Rio Grande do Sul) of Brazil as a 17-year-old seeking better living conditions. She could not read or write when she left the north, and eventually she lost touch with her family. In 2010, after 40 years of not having news from her parents and siblings, she decided it was time to redeem her origins. She asked me to take a picture of her family here in the south to show to the family in the north. At the time I was taking the picture I realized that the journey was also mine. I went along with her. When I published the first version of the book, she complained that there were too many blank pages and that I hadn't told her story properly, suggesting she write the story herself onto these pages.