Joelle Bandiwe

Joelle Bandiwe was born on January 11th to Fayola and Obim Bandiwe. Lewis lived in the village of Gaa-Aworo in Kwara State, Nigeria, Earth until recruitment.

At age 17, Mother Fayola married father Obim, after an extramarital impregnation with the child that would grow to be Joelle. Soon after Joelle's birth, Fayola fell ill and was diagnosed with emphysema. Lacking the funds to pay for treatment, Fayola's lungs continued to deteriorate throughout the years. She had five more children: Joelle's three younger sisters, Lola, Nena, and Chinyere; and her two younger brothers, Orji and Ayo. After the birth of Joelle's youngest silbing, Ayo, Fayola's condition worsened and left her bed-ridden. Obim Bandiwe at this point left her and ended the marriage, disappearing over night. Jo was left to take care of her dying mother and five younger siblings on her own.

Joelle was an intelligent student, and seemed to have no problem communicating with teachers or other students if necessary, but never spent more time or effort than necessary on academic endeavors. After graduating high school, her boyfriend of 2 years, Udo, invited her to join him studying in England, but she refused his offer and split with him, instead opting to stay in her hometown and work a series of part-time jobs to sustain her family, often working both night and day shifts and forgoing sleep for days on end.

Ten years ago, the eldest of her younger siblings, Lola, immigrated to America on a scholarship to study medicine at Harvard Medical School. 21 year old Joelle took care of her teenage siblings for four more years, but the money she made working jobs around the village were not enough to keep up with her mother's mounting medical bills and school tuition for her silbings, so she took an offer to join UNSC for more money and tested in.

Bandiwe served as the Chief Security Officer on the team of the C.S. Eternity from its creation to its dissolution 2 years later. During this time, she proposed to and married fellow officer Wesley Notoma. Joelle's mother died peacefully during this time, and Bandiwe was granted shore leave for her funeral. After the dissolution of the team, the two moved back to Bandiwe's hometown of Gaa-Aworo, as she was already pregnant. They currently reside there now, regularly donating their money not only to sustain those of Jo's younger siblings who still live in the village, but to the community center to fund the schools and public services of the town.

Joelle and Wesley Bandiwe live with their three children: Nyota, their eldest daughter and "star", and the twin brother and sister Zuvan and Cherika, the respective "moon" and "sun". Jo is currently pregnant with a boy, whom they already plan on naming Caspian, after their old captain.