Cristina and Raoul

Cristina and Raoul Bisbal immigrated to Australia from Argentina in 1976.

At this time in Argentina economic and political instability meant bank accounts were frozen and inflation was skyrocketing to levels we haven’t seen in Australia. Sometimes the price of ordinary goods would double overnight. They loved the beautiful landscape and people of Argentina but saw Australia as the country of the future, where everyone had a good standard of living. Upon arriving in Adelaide they felt their choice was vindicated when they saw a story on the front page of the Adelaide Advertiser of a cat being stuck up a tree and thought, “no other country in the world would have that on the front page”. 

It took a lot of determination to learn english and find work on arrival. Their bags were lost in transit, and after deciding to relocate to Melbourne to look for work their car broke down on the way over and they had to start from scratch. Raoul recalls his first day of work being asked for a shovel and returning with a pick as he was learning english. It took a lot of determination to find work and support his young, growing family. 

They met at 17 years of age, have been married for 42 years, and now have three adult children - all boys.  Raoul left 30 years of working as a plumber behind when they decided to follow their love of fine food and open a café. Then, while managing the cafe on 26 July 2008, Raoul suffered a stroke that impaired movement on the lefthand side of the body. 

After six months in hospital Raoul moved home and tried a range of supports that often didn’t seem the right fit. He was assessed by DHS and spent a year on a waiting list before being referred to annecto. With assistance from their case manager at annecto they now manage the funding support they receive. Mostly this is in the form of intensive physiotherapy - one session is in water and the other is a land program.

Over the years since the stroke Raoul‘s mobility and independence has grown. He feels he owes this in a big way to Cristina’s love and support. Raoul says sometimes they don’t need to talk because they know each other so well, that they know what each other is thinking.

Cristina makes miniature model villages and people. It’s something she’s been passionate about for a long time and really enjoys. Cristina sees it like creating a page in a book and it lets her escape the day to day. “My family tell me that one of these days you’re going to talk to these people. I say no, not unless they start talking to me first”.