Sister Mercy Mtaita
Current Mission Location – Maryknoll Sisters Center- Maryknoll, NY
Mercy Mtaita was born April 6, 1976, in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania to Emerensiana Simon Kinabo and Callist Ngowi Mtaita of Moshi Kilimanjaro.She has 2 brothers: Marco and Mathew, and one sister, Maria. Mercy graduated O’level Secondary Education from Morogoro Secondary School, in Morogoro, Tanzania.
Sister Mercy received her Certificate in Elementary education from Mandaka Teachers Training College in Moshi, Tanzania in 1996 and continued her education at Bigwa Sisters School of Advanced Studies in Morogoro, Tanzania. She specialized in History, Geography, and Language earning an Advanced Certificate in 2000. She did pastoral work in St. Mary’s Parish, and taught at Murigha Secondary school and the Children’s Care Academy, in Morogoro.
After studying, teaching, and discerning her vocation as a missioner, she joined the Maryknoll Sisters on August 11, 2001, at the Center in NY. She pronounced First Vows on September 7, 2003, at the Center.
After a period of formation and First Profession of Vows, Sister Mercy was assigned to Brazil in 2003 where she served as part of a pastoral team of Maryknollers. In Joao Pessoa, she provided Afro-Brazilian women with livelihood skills and did popular education with the theater of the Oppressed. In Sao Paulo, she fulfilled a long-time desire when she began working with the Guarani Indigenous people in the village of Jaragua on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. She worked also with street people in Sao Paulo.
Sister Mercy founded a religious group in Brazil called FRAB- Fraternidade Dos Africano Religioso. The fraternity group of religious worked to support and accompany all African religious who were doing missionary work in Brazil.
In 2009, Sister Mercy and four other Sisters reflected together on their experiences in mission and prepared for their Final Vows to live the rest of their lives as Maryknoll Sisters. Accompanied by her mother and father, Sister Mercy professed her Final Vows on August 16, 2009, in the Maryknoll Sisters Chapel, NY.
Back in Brazil, Sister Mercy continued working with the Guarani Indigenous as well as Afro-Brazilians. Her focus was on Social justice issues for Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian communities. With the Guarani women, she accompanied the mothers and their children. Educating them on how to have a balanced diet and helping them to stand up for their rights. She learned from the women how to make Guarani bread and the women learned how to make healthy Guarani bread. She continued to learn the language and culture to share the lives of the people.
In 2015, Sister Mercy took a break from Brazil to study at Barry University, Florida, where she earned a Bachelor of Social Work in May 2018 and a Master of Clinical Social Work in December 2018. In December 2018, Sister Mercy became a U.S. Citizen.
After finishing her studies, Sr. Mercy was assigned to be the Coordinator of the Sisters in the Chi-Rho community at the Center for three years, However, Sister Mercy accepted to extend her contract for 5 months.