Mother Teresa was born on 26 August 1910 in Albania. Her real name was Agnes Bojaxhiu. She lived in a large house with her younger brother and a sister. Agnes’s father was a builder; he was a kind man who gave money to the poor. Her mother hated to see things go to waste, for example; she would turn off the lights after tea so the electricity is not wasted. Agnes’s father had died when she was seven, which meant money was now hard to come by. Agnes grew up knowing about religion as it was a part of her daily life. She prayed daily and learned quickly the true values of life. She visited the needy and helped her mother care for the elderly from a young age. Agnes would spend a lot of time at the church while their priest would read out letters from nuns working at a mission school in India. After hearing about all the amazing things the nuns had been doing, she knew she wanted to become a nun, at the age of 12. At age 18, she went to an abbey in Ireland. She spent two months there learning English and then sailed for India in November 1928. Agnes learned to speak Bengali and Hindi while she went to her first mission school. Agnes changed her name to Mother Teresa on May 24, 1931.
Throughout her life Mother Teresa endured many obstacles. First, her father died when she was of a young age, which affected her greatly. Next, she felt that she needed to leave her abbey to help the poor and live with them in poverty. The obstacle of having little money and no material possessions was one that she chose to tolerate because she wanted to help the poor and needy. However, many of the people who she wished to help believed that she only helped them because she wanted them to become Christians, which was not true. She had stones thrown at her and yet she was determined to help others despite these obstacles.
Mother Teresa had accomplished many things in her life. As word spread about Missionaries of Charity, more and more women were motivated to join and more money was given to the cause. Mother Teresa was able to open hostels for the dying in other cities and in other countries. Wherever mother Teresa saw a need, she tried to fill it. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. This made her well known and brought many more followers.
Mother Teresa was an important individual because she was a kind woman, who put the needs of others before her own. She was brave and was determined to stop hunger around the world. She took care of people with serious contagious diseases with little regard for her own safety. She was kind, generous, and selfless. In my opinion, she was a hero because she dedicated her life to help others and gave up all material possessions to live like the people she cared for. Mother Teresa is viewed as a model humanitarian today due to her generous nature and dedication to helping others. Mother Teresa had influenced me positively because I learned that you must not do what others tell you but what your heart tells you, because when you listen to your heart you are truly listening to God. She was a true woman of God. She said she could look at people, all people, and see Jesus in them and love them because of it. She cared for the poorest of the poor.
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