Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu

Mother Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, Albanian: [aˈɲɛzə ˈɡɔndʒɛ bɔjaˈdʒiu], was an Albanian/Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary. She is known for founding a Roman Catholic Religious Congregation called Missionaries of Charity, being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and for her many acts of kindness and mercy. She was admired by a lot of people and was canonized in 2016, thirty seven years after her death.

The person that I chose as my hero was born on the 26th of August in 1910, and was baptized the day after. She grew up in Skopje, a city in the Ottoman Empire. Her father died when she was eight. She was very interested in being a missionary at a young age, and by the time she was twelve, she was sure she was going to live a very religious life. At age eighteen, she joined the Sisters of Loreto at the Loreto Abbey in Ireland. She was so committed to this life that she had chosen that she left her family, who she never saw again.

She arrived in India in 1929, where she chose to be named after the patron saint of missionaries, Saint Teresa. She worked in Calcutta at the Loreto Convent in Entally, but found the poverty surrounding her disturbing. She was not a woman to just look at the suffering around her and just ignore it. She found her “Call within the call” as she called it, as she started missionary work in 1948.

In 1950 she started “Missionaries of Charity” to care for all those who did not receive care or support. In 1952 she opened her first hospice. And by 1997, the 13 members of the congregation had turned into 4000 members. The congregation took in many homeless children who were not getting any help, and she opened a hospice for those with leprosy. She continued to help those who are less fortunate all her life.

I chose this person because she defines what it means to be a hero. She shows what values and beliefs are most important to me. Although some found her to be a controversial figure, she is one of the few people that I think was purely good. I can understand what fault people may find against her. And the faults she may have only make her more human. This is why I chose her as my hero.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa