Mother Teresa, Her Life and Work by Sutiksha Devliyal

Born on 26 August 1910, as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia in an Albanian peasant's family, Mother Teresa felt the need to serve the poor.

To accomplish her calling she left her home at the age of eighteen and joined the Sisters of Loreto and was
finally sent to Calcutta in India to work in the convent. After teaching in the convent for a couple of years Mother felt she isn't doing enough to accomplish her calling. Here one incident worth recalling is, that once outside a hospital Mother helped a dying man whom no one was even ready to touch. Although, that man died eventually but he left a strong feeling in Mother to come out in the streets to help the poor people and thus began her ending efforts to help the unwanted and the needy.

After forming her own order of 'The Missionaries of Charity' in 1952 Mother literally picked up the poor, the crippled, the unwanted and the needy people from the streets and gutters and took them to her home for poor. She gave them not only the medical care but also love and affection which they were devoid of. The main aim of her order in her own words was 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."

She opened many homes for the dying, the poor, those suffering from leprosy etc. She wanted to give all these people their basic right of being human beings; to live and die like humans. She looked after orphaned children and homeless youth in her Nirmala Shishu Bhawan and gave them shelter and food. She never had money for all her charity work and never did she require it. God always took care of it! Once they did not have rice left to be cooked for the lunch. Just when they were thinking what to do, an old lady came and donated a bag full of rice, which when measured before cooking, came out to be the exact amount they needed for their lunch. Such was her dedication that even God helped her all the way.

Slowly and steadily she spread her work throughout the globe in different countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and United States of America. She founded many orders like, The Missionaries of Charity Brothers and later on for the Sisters, the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa, the Sick and Suffering Co-workers, the Lay Missionaries of Charity and the Corpus Christi Movement for Priests. Some of her commendable works were to help the hungry in Ethiopia, radiation victims at Chernobyl, earthquake victims in Armenia, rescuing 37 children from a hospital, by brokering a temporary cease-fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian guerrillas and evacuating young patients through the war zone. By 1996, her charity had about 500 missions running in over 100 countries.

For her exemplary service to the mankind she was awarded many times. She received Padma Bhushan in 1962 and Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1969 by the Indian Government. She also received India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna, in the year 1972 and 1980. In 1962, she received Ramon Magsaysay Award by the Philippines government and Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1972. Her brigade of awards includes the Pacem in Terris Award in 1976 and many honorary degrees and merits by different countries. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Her only desire to spread love among all to reach the God helped her in reaching the almighty on 5 September 1997.