Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in the Amazon
On October 22, 2015 one of my Trinity College classmates, Sr. Kathryn Webster, SND, ’74, was invited to give the 10th anniversary lecture for the “Sower’s Seed” program. Established by Kathy Snider Dunn ’64 and her family, the program highlights alumnae who have incorporated into their lives the traditions of community service and social justice that are central to the Trinity experience and reflect the Catholic tradition that influences Trinity’s mission. These graduates are invited to come to campus to share their stories with Trinity students, in the hope that their stories will inspire new generations to consider community service, either as a volunteer or as a career. 
Kathryn Webster entered Notre Dame at Ilchester, Maryland in 1976. After her initial formation in 1979 she went to teach sixth graders at the St. Catherine of Genoa school in Brooklyn, New York. In 1984 the congregation sent her to Brazil. She has lived there ever since. Sr. Katy has lived in several different towns in the Amazon Basin. She’s now in Anapu, a city in the Brazilian state of Pará. She lives with three other SNDs, working as part of a pastoral team visiting communities, holding meetings, and supporting local people in their struggle for land, security and habitat protection. “My life is a rich and wonderful life,” Katy said, “and I am very grateful for the opportunity to live and work among the people of the Transamazon.” 
The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur began their Amazon mission in 1962 with five sisters “imbued with Gospel values and Vatican II perspectives.” Sr. Dorothy Stang arrived a few years later, and became famous both her advocacy and martrydom. She was assassinated in Anapu in 2005. Sr. Dorothy had been outspoken in her efforts on behalf of the poor, small farming families and the environment. “The death of the forest is the end of our life,” she said. She had received death threats from loggers and land owners. Hired gunmen shot her six times and left her to die on a dirt road. Mining companies have now moved into the area. 
Sr. Katy worked alongside Sr. Dorothy Strang and has continued Sr. Dorothy’s ministry. Social and environmental justice advocacy in Brazil is “boots to the ground” hard, gritty, dangerous work. “The struggle,” Sr. Katy said, “is for life: of the people, of the land, the forest and the rivers. We are 50 miles from the Belo Monte complex, a hydroelectric dam that is being built after 30 years of protest because it is a natural disaster, and the energy it will product will not benefit the local population and really is not needed.” 
I didn’t know Katy well at school but I am very proud to be her classmate. Our Trinity years helped steer both of us into environmental work and shaped our ethics and spirituality. 
