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Irmã Dulce was a Brazilian Catholic nun who founded the Obras Sociais Irmã Dulce, or the Charitable Works Foundation of Sister Dulce, as it is known in English. Her work with the poor population in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, has made her a candidate for sainthood in the Catholic Church. 

When she was 18 years old she began to care for the homeless and beggars on her neighborhood, giving them free haircuts and treating wounds.In 1949, she started caring for the poorest of the poor. First in abandoned houses 'Ilha dos Ratos' (rats' island) district in Salvador, while she went begging for food and medicine to care for them, then in her convent's chicken yard. Today, more than 3,000 people arrive every day at this same site (where the Santo Antônio Hospital now stands) to receive free medical treatment. Sister Dulce also established CESA, a school for the poor in Simões Filho, one of the most impoverished cities in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador and in the State of Bahia.

She was known for carrying street children and beggars to the hospital herself when she found them on the streets even though for the last 30 years of her life, her lungs were highly impaired and she had only 30% breathing capacity.

At the time of her death in 1992, Sister Dulce had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, she had received two personal audiences with Pope John Paul II, and she had, almost single-handedly, created one of the largest and most respected philanthropic organizations in Brazil.
Her work and spirit live on.

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Connected to: Sister Dulce - The Angel of Bahia