by Bushra Khan

Created on: January 24, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

If each person in this gigantic world of ours was as charitable and had a heart as big as Mother Teresa's, the word poverty would be erased form all dictionaries.

Born in Skopje, Yugoslavia in 1910 to Nicole and Dana, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was the youngest of three children. Her parents were very caring, and they helped everybody. Agnes herself was king and magnanimous from a very young age. Even though her father passed away when she was only eight, she recalled that she had a very happy childhood. Her family was devout Roman Catholic. When Agnes was just 12, she believed that God was calling her to become a nun. However, she had to wait six more years. In 1928, at the age of 18, Agnes left her family and joined a religious order called the Sisters of Loretto in Ireland. She was very happy that she had gotten the chance to devote herself to the poor and the needy.

The order she had joined was known for their missionary work in India. She was sent to Calcutta on their behalf to teach in a High School. In 1944, she became the principal there. However, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and was sent to the city of Darjeeling to rest. She claimed to have received a divine call on her way to Darjeeling. She was to leave her convent and to work for the poor by living among them. In 1948, she was granted permission to leave the Sisters of Loretto and to aid the necessitous and the miserable of Calcutta. Calcutta (now Kolkata) was a very crowded city with many poor neighborhoods where the people were sick and dying. Many had no shelter and several children o feed. There were babies simply thrown in the trash because there was no food to nourish another mouth. The invalid and diseased were unfortunately left on the streets to die. Overall, the situation in these slums was abominable, and it kept getting worse.

Mother Teresa, in all her love and courage, started a school in these slums and taught the children of the poor. She learned basic medicine and went to the homes of the unfortunate to treat them. In 1950, Mother Teresa found a new order of nuns called the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity. This order provided the homeless with shelter, food and started free schools, orphanages, hospitals, etc. Mother Teresa did not shrink from touching even those with the worst diseases, she loved them all. She even said once that, "if you don't want a child, give it to me."

It was because of her humanitarian work that in 1962, she received the Indian Padmashri Award. Later, she was honored with the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize as well as the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding. The in 1979, she was the recipient of the great Nobel Peace Prize.

On September 5th, 1997, after many long years that shine still with her great achievements, Mother Teresa died.

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