Sister Joana Dalva Alves Mendes is Brazilian and lives in community with the Sisters of Saint Joseph who are missioned in Brazil. “I was born shortly after the Sisters of Saint Joseph arrived in Mateira, Brazil,” explains Sister Joana. “They came to my hometown in 1968. Their friendly approach, their simplicity, their commitment to the poor, always attracted me.” 

Throughout these 40 years as a Sister of Saint Joseph, Sister Joana has reached out to the most vulnerable in many different ways. One of the most important experiences as a Sister of Saint Joseph occurred when she worked as Pastoral Agent at the Prelazia de São Felix do Araguaia, in Ribeirão-Cascalheira, MT. “It was a time when the Church was going through challenging times,” she says. “The small Christian communities were in their highest moment, many people were suffering persecution due to their radical commitment to the impoverished, and the Church was really a prophetic voice. It was one of the biggest challenges in my life as a Sister, and yet, the most life-giving time and of great spiritual growth.”

Since 1999, after she returned to Brazil after she graduated as a Religious Studies Major at Nazareth College of Rochester, she has worked as Pastoral Agent, translator and interpreter, social worker, member of the Public Health Counsels (organization which advocate for improving the public health system in Brazil), and most recently helping to develop a palliative care and hospice care project in a poor neighborhood in Goiania.

Sister Joana is currently working as translator and interpreter and also dedicating her energies in social ministries in Goiânia, Goiás – Brazil.