yearly trip to the chapel of the Madonna of Letnice. By the age of eighteen she decided that she was going to leave home and join the Sisters of Loreto Dublin missionary in Ireland. People may wonder where she got the name Mother Teresa, well why she was in Ireland she decide what she wanted her nun name to be and she chose after the Saint Therese of Lisieux. The turning point in her life was when she left to India. Mother Teresa left to India in 1929, by 1931 she took her first vows and that is where everything changed not only her life but other peoples life as well. When Mother Teresa moved to India she had no money, while she was there she saw how many people lived in poverty and got to know the feeling of not having money. By her going through not having money she realized how people were suffering therefore, she created the Missionary of Charity in 1950. She created this place for practically anyone who needed help in any certain way.
The reason I choose her is because of the many things she created for those who needed help and because she actually helped right along. There are many reasons why I choose her and I will be explaining the reasons below.
1. Missionaries of Charity
2. Home for the dying
3. Leprosy Disease
4. Orphanage
5. HIV/Aids
Her first give back to the community of India was Missionaries of Charity. It was created because she saw how many people were in need and decided to give back and therefore created what would now still be a very popular missionary. Mother Teresa's words for those who would need the help from the Missionaries of Charity were "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."(Mother Teresa). The fact that she worked along with the rest of the nuns when it came to helping these people was something very special because a lot of the time people come up with organizations but only support them by money not by actually being there and working.
Now the home for the dying was opened in 1952 which was for the poor it was opened in Calcutta. it was something that i thought was so special and heartwarming to me because it just shows how much a WOMEN can actually do. Imagine back in the 1950s where women were still wanted at home. Even though she was a nun women were still looked down at and the fact that she could pull this off in that time was amazing. One thing i thought was very nice was the fact that any kind of religion was welcomed in this home for the dying. I think that was very kind because a lot of the time you have to go to a certain place if that's your religion so the fact that this place welcomed many people of different religions was great.
Shatni Nagar was the name of Mother Teresa's hospice for Leprosy Disease. Not only was there a hospice there were also many clinics through out Calcutta that gave them band-aids when they needed them, food, and medication whenever that was needed as well. Another heart warming thing she did was create an orphanage called Nirmal Shishu Bhavan for those young children who were lost or homeless. Another major thing i think is very important was how she created homes for those with HIV/AIDS. The home for the HIV/Aids was called Gift of Love. I think it was very thoughtful of her to do that because she was willing to be around HIV/Aids victims to help them. Aids was something that freaked people out back in the 1950s because there was not much information about it and that fact that she and other nuns risked their life's to help HIV/Aid victims shows how great Mother Teresa and her nuns were.
Mother Teresa just didn't make homes for people in need she also risked her life. One big example of this was when she saved 37 children that were stuck in a front line hospital and negotiated a temporary suspension "fight" between the Israeli army and Palestinian guerrillas. Mother Teresa went to places that were not safe such as places where wars were occurring just to take young children out of demolished hospitals. Mother Teresa was one of the most loved women of the world. Many people loved her for what she had done all over the world. What kept her happy was helping people. She was so loved and did so many good things she got awarded many prizes below are a few prizes she got awarded.
Mother Teresa through out the years got many prizes:
Ramon Magsaysay Award
Pope John XXIII Peace Prize
Pacem in Terris Award
Balzan Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The reason I chose Mother Teresa for a women that has made a major contribution is because of all the contributions that she helped make for all those people in need and also because she a WOMEN created all of the organizations. Mother Teresa helped make these homes for people who did not have a place at all or any support system from anyone. Not only that she was also so accepting to other religions. I think it takes a lot to leave home all alone to become a nun and help others. Mother Teresa defiantly put others needs before hers to try to better everyone in general all she wanted from humans was peace. The fact that she was brave enough to do all this stuff without caring about how others though of her is very inspiring. She showed men that women are able to build things right from the bottom just the same as men can. Also the fact that she used her popularity in a good way to continue helping others, there was a certain situation where she was going to receive $192,000 and did not accept them instead she made it clear she wanted all of that money to go to her charity work so it could help others. Mother Teresa might not have been in the Feminist group trying to fight for women rights and things like that but she was defiantly a women who just was not trying to just help women she was helping everyone and saw a women and man equally the same.
Mother Teresa unfortunately died September 5, 1997. She was someone everyone loved her charities by this time were now all over the world.
References and Credit:
http://www.motherteresa.org/layout.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa
http://www.biography.com/people/mother-teresa-9504160
http://ww.itimes.com/lifestyle/biography/photos
http://catholicmom.com/tag/blessed-mother-teresa-of-calcutta/
https://ahswhg2.wikispaces.com/Agnes+(Mother+Teresa)+Gonxha+Bojaxhiu