Mother Teresa
Peace begins with a smile.
------- Mother Teresa
1. Introduction
Receiving the Nobel Prize
On 10 December 1979, a small woman wearing a white sari and sandals stood on a stage in Oslo, Norway. Before her sat the King and Queen of Norway and ambassadors and dignitaries from many countries. The woman's name was Mother Teresa (1910-1997), and she was there to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.
The speech
When Mother Teresa stepped up to give her speech, she did so without notes. Beginning with a short prayer, she explained her life's work:
I choose the poverty of our poor people. But I am grateful to receive (the Nobel Prize) in the name of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, ... the crippled, ... the blind, ... the lepers, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared-for throughout society, people that have become a burnden to society and are shunned by everyone.
In the speech, she described her unforgettable experience of visiting an institution for the eldly, which ignited her thinking about the poverty other people seldom noticed. Mother Teresa recalled that the elderly people living in the institution had everything, but they were always looking at the door with sadness in their eyes. A member of the staff there explained that these people were expecting and hoping every day that a son or a daughter would come to visit them. They were sad and hurt because of being forgotten and neglected by their own families.
Using this example, Mother Teresa pointed out that neglect was just one of many kinds of poverty that might exist in people's own homes. This made her wonder whether people ever tried to receive and care for those who were feeling lonely, sick or worried.
For Mother Teresa, who had spent most of her life caring for others, the plight of neglected people was of utmost importance. Not to miss any opportunity to help the poor, she requested that the traditional grand dinner after the Noble Prize ceremony be cancelled, and the money be given to the poor instead.
Thinking back
While giving her speech, Mother Teresa must have looked out over the large audience and seen one particular smiling face. It was not the face of a king or a high government official, but the face of her mother, whom Teresa had not seen for the whole of her life since her departure for India in 1928. Her mother's face must have made Mother Teresa think back almost seventy years to her beginnings in a small village named Skopje.
------- Mother Teresa
1. Introduction
Receiving the Nobel Prize
On 10 December 1979, a small woman wearing a white sari and sandals stood on a stage in Oslo, Norway. Before her sat the King and Queen of Norway and ambassadors and dignitaries from many countries. The woman's name was Mother Teresa (1910-1997), and she was there to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.
The speech
When Mother Teresa stepped up to give her speech, she did so without notes. Beginning with a short prayer, she explained her life's work:
I choose the poverty of our poor people. But I am grateful to receive (the Nobel Prize) in the name of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, ... the crippled, ... the blind, ... the lepers, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared-for throughout society, people that have become a burnden to society and are shunned by everyone.
In the speech, she described her unforgettable experience of visiting an institution for the eldly, which ignited her thinking about the poverty other people seldom noticed. Mother Teresa recalled that the elderly people living in the institution had everything, but they were always looking at the door with sadness in their eyes. A member of the staff there explained that these people were expecting and hoping every day that a son or a daughter would come to visit them. They were sad and hurt because of being forgotten and neglected by their own families.
Using this example, Mother Teresa pointed out that neglect was just one of many kinds of poverty that might exist in people's own homes. This made her wonder whether people ever tried to receive and care for those who were feeling lonely, sick or worried.
For Mother Teresa, who had spent most of her life caring for others, the plight of neglected people was of utmost importance. Not to miss any opportunity to help the poor, she requested that the traditional grand dinner after the Noble Prize ceremony be cancelled, and the money be given to the poor instead.
Thinking back
While giving her speech, Mother Teresa must have looked out over the large audience and seen one particular smiling face. It was not the face of a king or a high government official, but the face of her mother, whom Teresa had not seen for the whole of her life since her departure for India in 1928. Her mother's face must have made Mother Teresa think back almost seventy years to her beginnings in a small village named Skopje.
