Occupation: Catholic Nun
Born: August 26, 1910 in Uskub,
Ottoman Empire
Died: September 5, 1997 in Calcutta,
India
Best known for: Fighting for the rights
of the sick and helpless
Biography:
Mother Teresa was a humanitarian.
This means she did things to help
out other people. Her entire life was
fully devoted to helping the poor, the
sick, the needy, and the helpless.
Where did Mother Teresa grow up?
Mother Teresa was born in Uskub,
Ottoman Empire on August 26, 1910.
This city is now called Skopje and is
the capital of the Republic of
Macedonia. Her birth name was
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Her father
died when she was eight and she
was raised by her mother. She was
raised as a Roman Catholic and
decided to devote her life to God at a
young age. She joined the Sisters of
Loreto at the age of 18 to become a
missionary to India. She first had to
learn English. So she went to Ireland
to learn English at the Loreto Abby.
A year later she started her
missionary work in Darjeeling, India.
She learned the local language,
Bengali, and taught at the local
school. She soon took her first vows
as a nun and took the name Teresa.
She would teach for many years in
India becoming the headmistress at a
school in eastern Calcutta.
What did Mother Teresa do?
When she was 36 years old she felt
the call from God to help the poor of
India. She received some basic
medical training and then set out to
help the sick and needy. This wasn't
an easy task in 1948 India. She had
very little support and, while trying to
feed and help the poorest of the poor,
she herself was constantly hungry
and even had to beg for food.
Soon other women joined her and
she formed the Missionaries of
Charity. Mother Teresa described the
purpose of the Missionaries of
Charity as an organization to take
care of "the hungry, the naked, the
homeless, the crippled, the blind, the
lepers, all those people who feel
unwanted, unloved, uncared for
throughout society, people that have
become a burden to the society and
are shunned by everyone". Wow! She
had some lofty goals and considering
where she was at the start (see
above paragraph where she was
starving), she accomplished some
amazing things. The Missionaries of
Charity originally had 13 members.
Today they have over 4,000 nuns who
care for people just like Mother
Teresa described all over the world.
It wasn't an easy task to build such
an organization and to keep the focus
on the poorest people. She worked
almost up until her death on
September 5, 1997.
Fun facts about Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa has been beatified by
the Catholic Church. This is a step on
the way to becoming a Saint. She is
now called Blessed Teresa of
Calcutta.
Albania's international airport is
named after her, the Aeroporti Nene
Tereza.
She was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1979.
She once traveled through a war zone
to rescue 37 children from the front
lines.
She received numerous awards for all
her charity work including the
Presidential Medal of Freedom from
President Ronald Reagan.
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