Maria Joseph
Love and dignity
Love and dignity
Laura Salinger is
a freelance
writer based in
Madison, Wis.
a freelance
writer based in
Madison, Wis.
by Laura Salinger
Some may say that Maria Joseph has a thankless job. She, on the other hand, says it is her calling. A nurse caring for dementia patients
at Oak Park Place in Madison and a Madison Area Technical College alumni and current student who was recently appointed to the
Wisconsin Board of Nursing by Gov. Doyle, Joseph has led a remarkable, sometimes struggle-filled, life. This life includes a close
relationship with the late Mother Teresa in Calcutta, an arranged marriage, the death of her young 23 year old son, and a devotion to caring
for those less fortunate. Through it all, she lives and abides by the notion that everyone deserves to live with love and dignity.
Born and raised in Calcutta (Kolkata), India, Joseph’s parents were business owners who owned rubber plantations, sold cars and ran
other ventures in this densely populated capital city. Joseph and her seven siblings (five sisters and two brothers) were raised Catholic
and attended a private Catholic school in the city. Joseph describes her childhood as “a beautiful family life.”
The family had a very close relationship with Mother Teresa, the famed humanitarian who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta
and who ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned and dying for nearly 50 years. A Nobel Peace Prize winner and Bharat Ratna honoree,
Joseph says that Mother Teresa was always humble and loving despite her worldwide fame. She describes her as “very gentle, kind, and
always exuding love and joy.”
“I used to see a lot of people from magazines and the BBC crowding around her,” Joseph says. “Her focus was always to go and take
care of people who were sick or destitute. You could see the genuine love-she served the poor and anyone really-with love and dignity. And
it didn’t ever matter if there were famous people around her. It was amazing to see her so humble. You could just feel she was special.”
Joseph’s family lived in the same neighborhood as Mother Teresa. She said that Mother Teresa approached them and asked if she could
use rooms in their house to set up a school for poor children and a clinic for the needy. So it came to be that Mother Teresa and her sisters
administered to the needy in the very house that Joseph grew up in.
Joseph was tremendously inspired by Mother Teresa and the sisters but also by her own mother.
“My mother was a very saintly woman,” Joseph says. “She is the one who brought Mother Teresa into our family.”
Joseph eventually started working in some of the many homes ran by Mother Teresa and her sisters.
“I used to work in all those homes; the orphanage, the house for the lepers, the house for the dying and destitute.”
Mother Teresa and her own mother inspired Joseph to adopt the mantra of love and dignity for everyone.
“Whatever we do, it must be done with love and dignity. We must treat each other with love and dignity. We can’t forget that. That is
what I insist on.”
Joseph obtained a teaching degree in India and taught English to Mother Teresa’s sisters. She also became a wife. The marriage, as
tradition, was arranged. Eventually, Joseph moved to the United States — although she wished to stay in India — due to her husband’s job
and she continued to seek common ground with a man, she says, was very different from herself.
Joseph went back to school at Madison Area Technical College to become a CNA and later an LPN.
“When I came here to America, I realized my calling is towards nursing,” Joseph says.
She eventually began working with a group of people who can be the most challenging of patients, yet who have little to no voice of
their own.
“When I came here, I thought that was the biggest concern-people with dementia-and they had to live in nursing homes,” Joseph says.
“It is very easy to get angry with them, to abuse them. I just felt the need to take care of them and serve them with love and dignity like
Mother Teresa. It is extremely challenging, but it is so important.”
In some ways, Joseph is their voice box, their guardian angel.
“We advocate for them,” Joseph says about her patients. “They can’t talk or voice their opinions.”
When describing her patients, she simply says, “Each one is precious.”
While Joseph has long tended to those who need so much, she has faced her own set of challenges. Her 25-year long marriage ended
and she faced every parent’s nightmare: the death of her son at the tender age of 23. Yet Joseph takes away very clear and stark messages
from her time with Mother Teresa and her patients. Despite life’s challenges, you must keep moving on and helping others, she says.
Joseph is currently attending Madison College to fulfill the prerequisites required to enter the College’s Associate Degree Nursing Program.
From there, she is thinking of working as a nurse with a global health organization focused on serving underprivileged populations.
Regardless of where she ends up, she knows she wants to be in the position to help those in need.
“I think I want to work with poorest of the poor, like Mother Theresa.”
Her daughter, Aloka (meaning light), plans to follow suit — helping those in need — and become a social worker.
Joseph was recently appointed by Gov. Jim Doyle to serve on the Wisconsin Board of Nursing and this appointment has been approved.
Despite this most recent success, and her earlier accomplishments, Joseph appears to have taken to heart the humility she witnessed in
Mother Teresa. She is not impressed by accolades or praise; she simply and genuinely wants to help others and make a difference. She is,
truly, a remarkable woman with a remarkable story.
Some may say that Maria Joseph has a thankless job. She, on the other hand, says it is her calling. A nurse caring for dementia patients
at Oak Park Place in Madison and a Madison Area Technical College alumni and current student who was recently appointed to the
Wisconsin Board of Nursing by Gov. Doyle, Joseph has led a remarkable, sometimes struggle-filled, life. This life includes a close
relationship with the late Mother Teresa in Calcutta, an arranged marriage, the death of her young 23 year old son, and a devotion to caring
for those less fortunate. Through it all, she lives and abides by the notion that everyone deserves to live with love and dignity.
Born and raised in Calcutta (Kolkata), India, Joseph’s parents were business owners who owned rubber plantations, sold cars and ran
other ventures in this densely populated capital city. Joseph and her seven siblings (five sisters and two brothers) were raised Catholic
and attended a private Catholic school in the city. Joseph describes her childhood as “a beautiful family life.”
The family had a very close relationship with Mother Teresa, the famed humanitarian who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta
and who ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned and dying for nearly 50 years. A Nobel Peace Prize winner and Bharat Ratna honoree,
Joseph says that Mother Teresa was always humble and loving despite her worldwide fame. She describes her as “very gentle, kind, and
always exuding love and joy.”
“I used to see a lot of people from magazines and the BBC crowding around her,” Joseph says. “Her focus was always to go and take
care of people who were sick or destitute. You could see the genuine love-she served the poor and anyone really-with love and dignity. And
it didn’t ever matter if there were famous people around her. It was amazing to see her so humble. You could just feel she was special.”
Joseph’s family lived in the same neighborhood as Mother Teresa. She said that Mother Teresa approached them and asked if she could
use rooms in their house to set up a school for poor children and a clinic for the needy. So it came to be that Mother Teresa and her sisters
administered to the needy in the very house that Joseph grew up in.
Joseph was tremendously inspired by Mother Teresa and the sisters but also by her own mother.
“My mother was a very saintly woman,” Joseph says. “She is the one who brought Mother Teresa into our family.”
Joseph eventually started working in some of the many homes ran by Mother Teresa and her sisters.
“I used to work in all those homes; the orphanage, the house for the lepers, the house for the dying and destitute.”
Mother Teresa and her own mother inspired Joseph to adopt the mantra of love and dignity for everyone.
“Whatever we do, it must be done with love and dignity. We must treat each other with love and dignity. We can’t forget that. That is
what I insist on.”
Joseph obtained a teaching degree in India and taught English to Mother Teresa’s sisters. She also became a wife. The marriage, as
tradition, was arranged. Eventually, Joseph moved to the United States — although she wished to stay in India — due to her husband’s job
and she continued to seek common ground with a man, she says, was very different from herself.
Joseph went back to school at Madison Area Technical College to become a CNA and later an LPN.
“When I came here to America, I realized my calling is towards nursing,” Joseph says.
She eventually began working with a group of people who can be the most challenging of patients, yet who have little to no voice of
their own.
“When I came here, I thought that was the biggest concern-people with dementia-and they had to live in nursing homes,” Joseph says.
“It is very easy to get angry with them, to abuse them. I just felt the need to take care of them and serve them with love and dignity like
Mother Teresa. It is extremely challenging, but it is so important.”
In some ways, Joseph is their voice box, their guardian angel.
“We advocate for them,” Joseph says about her patients. “They can’t talk or voice their opinions.”
When describing her patients, she simply says, “Each one is precious.”
While Joseph has long tended to those who need so much, she has faced her own set of challenges. Her 25-year long marriage ended
and she faced every parent’s nightmare: the death of her son at the tender age of 23. Yet Joseph takes away very clear and stark messages
from her time with Mother Teresa and her patients. Despite life’s challenges, you must keep moving on and helping others, she says.
Joseph is currently attending Madison College to fulfill the prerequisites required to enter the College’s Associate Degree Nursing Program.
From there, she is thinking of working as a nurse with a global health organization focused on serving underprivileged populations.
Regardless of where she ends up, she knows she wants to be in the position to help those in need.
“I think I want to work with poorest of the poor, like Mother Theresa.”
Her daughter, Aloka (meaning light), plans to follow suit — helping those in need — and become a social worker.
Joseph was recently appointed by Gov. Jim Doyle to serve on the Wisconsin Board of Nursing and this appointment has been approved.
Despite this most recent success, and her earlier accomplishments, Joseph appears to have taken to heart the humility she witnessed in
Mother Teresa. She is not impressed by accolades or praise; she simply and genuinely wants to help others and make a difference. She is,
truly, a remarkable woman with a remarkable story.