Mother Teresa was bom on 27 August 1910 to Albanian parents in Skopje. Her real name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. She joined a convent in Ireland in 1928 when she was just a teenager. At 18 years, she was sent to Darjeeling, India. Here, she began teaching in Kolkata Girls’ School in two years time. Later she left teaching to work among the poor in the slums of Kolkatta. She had a “call within the call” to help the poorest of the poor in Kolkata. From 1948, she started working for the downtrodden and sick destitute people. She started an orphanage and schools for poor children.

Her prayers for doing charitable work not only in India but also across the world got answered mysteriously. She begged food for children. She slowly got the support of the surrounding people. She started the missionaries of charity. Hundreds of people were rescued from the jaws of death. For her sincere, dedicated and selfless work, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace in 1979. She was a living legend of mercy. She left for her heavenly abode on 5th September 1997 and was beautified the same year by Pope John Paul II. Her funeral was attended by many world leaders.