Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa

        Mother Teresa was born on 26 August 1910, in present day Macedonia. She devoted her life to being a Roman Catholic sister and a missionary. At a young age, she learned about the missionaries in Bengal, which at the time she knew she wanted to devote her life to the religious life. At the age of 18 she left home to join the Sisters of Loreto as a missionary.

        Mother Teresa is an example of a great leader from our history. She showed that she is a transformational type of leader. When she was a young age the missionaries she heard stories about at Bengal inspired her to follow a religious lifestyle. The religious lifestyle inspired her to help others. She stepped up to the challenge and faced it directly. She saw that people in India were struggling with poverty and disease, so she decided to go there first and set up the Missionaries of Charity. It attracted enough people to open up missionaries in different countries.

        Mother Teresa showed that she is a risk taker. During the height of the Siege of Beirut, Mother Teresa was able to negotiate a cease-fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian army. She was then able to rescue 37 children from a hospital that was in the middle of the front lines. She risked her life by going through the war zone and saving the children from the war torn hospital. Mother Teresa also risked her life many other times including when disaster struck in Chernobyl. She travelled throughout Eastern Europe when communism was increasing at the time.  She travelled through the countries that rejected the Missionaries of Charity, setting up new projects.

        Mother Teresa was the type of leader that was driven by her work. At the age of 12 she knew she wanted to commit herself to serving others after hearing stories about the missionaries in Bengal. At the age of 18 she left to pursue her dreams, leaving behind her family. When she did leave, she never saw her sister and mother again. The main factor that helped her throughout her life was her faith. Not many people in the world can commit to something big enough like Mother Teresa did. Her faith drove her to accomplish what she wanted to do, which was to help people.