St. Teresa of Calcutta - 3

Her real journey began in 1929 when she arrived in India where she became a nun and taught at a convent in Eastern Calcutta for several decades.

The 1943 Bengal famine which killed a staggering 2.1 million people was a life changing moment for Teresa and left an unshakable impression on her. After 20 years of teaching at the convent, she felt a “calling within a calling” and left her position as headmistress to aid the poor.

Teresa then moved into the slums where she faced hunger, poverty and homelessness.

Despite the lack of equipment and supplies, she found a way to open a school for poor children teaching them to read and write using sticks in the dirt.

Her efforts didn’t go unnoticed. A new community soon formed around Mother Teresa opening hospices, clinics and orphanages throughout India. Within a few years the mission went global.

By the 1970s, the congregation was helping orphans and those afflicted by addiction, poverty, disability, old age and disaster around the world. In 1979, Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to overcome poverty and suffering.