People have lived on earth for a very long time. But there aren't many people who live their whole lives for other people. They live to make other people's lives better. The point of their life is to make other people happy and lessen their pain. There were only a few of them. She had spent her whole life looking out for other people. Poor, sick, and weak people turned to her for help. She will always be the GlobalIcon. Many people around the world held Mother Teresa in high regard during the 20th century. Her work as a missionary helped sick, poor, and disadvantaged people. During her lifetime, she was called a "Living Saint" and started the Order of the Missionaries of Charity. She spent her whole life trying to be kind and helpful.
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa, was the third and last child of Nikola and Dranafile Bojaxhiu, who were both Albanian Catholics and born in Skopje, which is mostly a Muslim city in the Balkans. Nikola made a lot of money in business on his own, and Dranafile stayed home to take care of the kids. Her dad was a businessman. He was a construction contractor and a pharmacist. Nikola Bojaxhiu, her father, died when she was only nine years old. The people who worked with Nicola took all the money after he died. Dranafile Bojaxhiu, her mother, was a very strong woman, though.
Her real name wasn't Mother Teresa. Her name as a child was Agnes. The woman was born with kindness and love in her heart. Agnes' heart has always been very compassionate, even when she was a child. The last school Agnes went to was a private Catholic school where she learned Albanian. When she was young, she was very pretty. She was cute and beautiful because she had brown eyes. She was also a great student and always got the top grade. Agnes was the nicest person at her school and in college too. She was also one of the best dancers at her school.
From the age of 12, she made the decision to become a Catholic. She joined the Sisters of Loreto in Rathfarnham, Ireland, when she was 16 years old to become a nun. Throughout India in the 1960s, she opened charity homes for schools, hospices, and lepers, among other types of homes for people in need. Loreto sisters usually couldn't leave the convent, but in 1935, Mother Teresa, who was 25 years old at the time, was given an exception to teach at St. Teresa's, a school outside the convent. After going to St. Teresa's for two years, Mother Teresa made her final vows on May 24, 1937, and was then known as "Mother Teresa." Mother Teresa's unwavering efforts to fight the terrible effects of poverty and illness made her famous all over the world. She received many honors for her charitable work, such as the "Jewel of India", the Gold Medal of the Soviet Union's Peace Committee, and a Decree of Praise from Pope Paul VI.
During the 1970s, Mother Teresa was able to spread her good deeds to more places around the world. Her charity helped more than just single mothers and people with HIV/AIDS. It also helped children from Christian and Muslim families in Beirut. Mother Teresa started a few more groups to make the organization stronger and spread the word of brotherhood around the world. In 1963, she started the Missionaries of Charity for brothers.
In 1976, she started the Contemplative Branch of Sisters, and in 1979, she started the Contemplative Branch of Brothers. There are now more than 4,000 nuns in The Missionaries of Charity. The group has grown to include more than 100 countries so far. The Missionaries of Charity's goal is to care for and help the sick, mentally ill, elderly, people with incurable illnesses, and children who have been left alone. The Missionaries of Charity have opened about 20 homes in Calcutta, as well as a school for kids who live on the streets. Also, Missionaries of Charity had 610 groups in 123 different countries. As she helped everyone in need, she became Sister Teresa to Mother Teresa.
The Decree of Praise is one of the many awards Mother Teresa has received for her selfless service. In 1980, she was given the Bharat Ratna, which is India's highest civilian award. In 1962, the Indian government gave her the Padma Shri, which is India's top civilian award and the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding. The Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding was given to her in 1962. She won the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971 for her work with the poor, her Christian charity, and her efforts to make the world a better place. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitutes a threat to peace." From 1970 to 1980, Mother Teresa was the most famous person in the world. She had a lot of health problems as she got older. She was also getting care from doctors in Eastern Country. Finally, after a few years, her organs stopped working, such as her lungs and kidneys. She died in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, on September 5, 1997. She was 87 years old.