Her work
Mother Teresa
About the work Mother says:
We are not social workers or social assistants. We want to bring the joy and love of God to the people, we want to bring them God Himself, who gives them His love through us. At the same time we love God and show Him our love by serving Him in this people. There are a lot of institutions caring for sick. We do not want to be one among them. WE are not one or a another organization of social service. We have to be more, to give more, we have to give ourselves. We have to bring Gods' love to the people by our service. And the poor people have taught us what it really means to love and to serve God - although our full understanding will only come after we died.
Nirmal Hriday
Shishu Bavan
Shanti Nagar
Battle against abortion
Growth
Soup kitchen
Aids
Prisons
Nirmal Hriday
One of the first foundations of Mother Teresa is the Home for the Dying in Calcutta. In an interview with Malcolm Muggeridge (Something beautiful for God - Ed. Van Spijk) sister Teresa tells how, for the first time she picked up a woman from the street.
The woman was half eaten up by rats and aunts. I took her to the hospital, but they could do nothing for her. They only took her because I refused to go home unless something was done for her. After they cared for her, I went straight to the town hall and asked for a place where I could take this people, because that day I found more people dying in the street.
The employee of health services brought me to the temple of Kali and showed me the "dormashalah" where the pilgrims used to rest after they worshipped the goddess Kali. The building was empty and he asked me if I wanted it. I was very glad with the offer for many reasons, but especially because it was the centre of prayer for Hindus. Within 24 hours we brought our sick and suffering and started the Home for the Dying Destitutes.
Ever since thousands of men, women and children (more that 40 000) were taken from the street in Calcutta and transported to the home. Half of them died in a kind surrounding. In their last hours they met the human and divine love, they could feel that they also were children of God. For those who didn't die the sisters tried to find a job or they were sent to homes where they could live happily some more years in homely surrounding.
The Home for the Dying Destitutes became more and more known and finally it was an evidence to pick up dying from the street and bring them to this house when there was nowhere else place for them. They were washed, freshly dressed and put into bed with the proper medical care. With tender and patient attention.
All over India and the world the Missionaries of Charity have homes for the dying and the very sick people, who have nobody else who care, or who can't pay any medical help. The sisters have ambulances, doctors, nurses, etc. Many friends and volunteers give a helping hand.
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Shishu Bavan
Another early foundation was "Shishu Bavan", the Home for the babies.
"Many of those children have parents who cannot care for them and thus do not want them. Some we pick up from the street, others are brought to us from hospitals, where they were left behind through their parents. Some come from the prisons and others are brought by policemen. No matter how they come here, we never refused a child till now."
In India now there are over forty houses for children. But not only there: all over the world the sisters have childrens' homes. That this are only handicapped children is untrue. Some have studied and got married, have an important social role and became themselves messagers of love, doing good works all over.
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Shanti Nagar
In the life story of Mother Teresa lepers are a chapter apart. India has a quite great number of lepers. In the traditional mentality this disease is a punishment sent to someone by God and thus one has to accept and suffer the disease without complaint. The position of a leper is far from enviable in India. They are banned out from society, even when they are very rich or highly educated. They loose their work and their family, fly in the mountains by necessity and beg for their food. They live and die like animals.
When Mother Teresa explained that this was a disease, that in many cases could be cured and not a punishment, she met a wall of cold neglection. But she started to make small villages where the lepers could live and work in peace and be cared for, but she needed to find a proper place.
In his book about Mother Teresa Desmond Doig (Ed. Lannoo) tells how a useless piece of land near the railroad was simply occupied with the intention, along the railroad, but with some distance of it, to start a colony where lepers could build their own bambuhouses and work their own fields. It was not without a risk, because the lepers could not leave the railroad fast enough.
In such a settlement, founded in great difficulty, the sick make their own cloths and medical cloth for their wounds and bags for the medicine.
Most of our sisters are trained especially for the work among the lepers, says Mother to M. Muggeridge, and with the newest medicine from the west we can stop the disease if the sick come in time for help.
Years ago the Albanese sister had the idea to collect money for the lepers among the millions of inhabitants of the city of Calcutta. "Touch the leper with your kindness". It was a great success and with the money, added to other donations, Shanti Nagar was created: "The city of peace", where sick and healed lepers are cared for, learn a job, find work. All in a spirit of Christian charity.
When I touch the smelling body I know I touch the body of Christ as I receive Him in the Holy Communion under the sign of bread, says Mother Teresa.
The leader of the City of Joy is an Albanian doctor who became also a sister. She was leper herself as well as some other sisters, but they took the medicine that was given in the centre.
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Battle against abortion
Together with all this work Mother Teresa is all over the world known as a big enemy of abortion. When she received the Noble Price for peace in 1979 she said:
This is the worst evil in the world.
With all the moral authority she has earned through her life, she defends the right to a valuable life for every human being and especially for the unborn.
The life of a child that still has to be born or the life of the poor whom we meet in the streets of Calcutta, Rome or anywhere else in the world, the life of children or adults is the same life. It is our life, it is a gift of God.
Countries that allow abortion are poor, says Mother Teresa, because they do not have the courage to accept one more life.
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Growth
The work spread fast. The sisters are now active all over India and outside in many countries in the world: from Venezuela to Jordany, from Italy to Tanzania, from the United States to Russia. More and more bishops were asking for sisters and the number of vocations was increasing, especially in India. After deep consideration, prayer and discussion, Mother accepted the expansion.
She opened a house for alcoholics, drug addicts and homeless and destitutes in Rome. The pope asked to open a house also for mothers with unwanted pregnancies. For the vocations from Europe and America, she opened a second noviciate in Rome. In the spirit of the second vatican council she accepted in India non-christian novices, under the condition that they would accept totally the life and engagement of the Missionaries of Charity.
As said, with the changing in the communist countries, she opened houses there, among which Russia, Poland, Croatia, etc. The apostolate there is not mostly a material, but essentially a moral need.
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Soup kitchen
In many big cities, where the homeless and the lost have no place to go or stay and certainly nobody who cares, the sisters have soup kitchen every day. So this men and women can have a warm meal and a warm place and good food. Many times they become like a small family where care for each other grows. The sisters also cook for them on feast days like Christmas, Easter, etc. helped by volunteers.
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AIDS
When in the early 80s the world got shocked by the disease of aids, killing hundreds of young people and very few information about the disease was available, many of this sick were left aside in the hospitals or became unwanted. It is there again that Mother Teresa brought and showed the great Love of the One she devoted her life to: Jesus. She opens homes for aids patients all over the world.
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Prisons
Rehabilitation of the prisoners in India.
Mother Teresa has given her support to this project. "It is a beautiful gift of God as to take care of men and women in prison" she said at the opening of the second convention of the Ministers in Prisons, a catholic initiative.
50 religious, priests and more than 20 lay volunteers who work on the rehabilitation of the prisoners were present. There are in India 926 prisons and over 200 000 prisoners. Mother Teresa recalled her first encounter with this world, when the government of West-Bengal asked her help for the imprisoned female prostitutes.
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