Good afternoon, respected teachers and my dear friends.

Today I am going to speak about my

role model.
"Clad in a white sari with blue border, she and the sisters of Missionaries of Charity became a symbol of
hope to the aged, the diseased, the terminally ill, and those abandoned by their families.
She is none other than Mother Teresa my role model.
Mother Teresa as we all know today was born as Anjez(Agnes) Gonxhe(Gondze) Bojaxhiu(Boyaxhiu)
on 26 August 1910 to her Albanian parents in Skopje, now capital of the Republic of Macedonia. Gonxha
means "rosebud" or "little flower" in Albanian.
As a child, Agnes was motivated by stories of the lives of missionaries and their service. By the age of 12
she was convinced that she should lead a religious life. She left home at age 18 to join the Sisters of
Loreto as a missionary. She arrived in India in 1929, and began training in Darjeeling. She became a nun
on 24 May 1931 and chose to be named Sister Teresa.
On 10 September 1946, Teresa experienced what she later described as "the call within the call" while
travelling by train. In her words she recalled "I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living
among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith. Thus began the transformation
of Sister Teresa into Mother Teresa.
Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, which consists of over 4,500 sisters and is active in
133 countries. They run hospices and homes for people with HIV, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup
kitchens; children's and family counseling programs; orphanages; and schools.
In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded Nobel Peace Prize for her work to overcome poverty and distress."
When Mother Teresa received the prize, she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" She
answered "Go home and love your family.
During her lifetime Mother Teresa received many awards. She received the Padma Shri in 1962,
Jawaharlal Nehru Award in 1969 and India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980.In 1962,
Mother Teresa received the Ramon Magsaysay Award. The United Kingdom and the United States also
granted her many awards. Mother Teresa's Albanian homeland granted her the Golden Honour of the
Nation in 1994. During her lifetime, Mother Teresa was named 18 times in the yearly Gallup's list of most
admired man and woman around the world.
Long and sincere service to the society had taken its toll. Mother Teresa suffered a heart attack in Rome
while visiting Pope John Paul II. After a second attack she suffered from pneumonia and further heart
problems while in Mexico. Later, she had heart surgery but it was clear that her health was failing. On 13
March 1997, she stepped down from the head of Missionaries of Charity. She died on 5 September 1997.
Her death was mourned all over the world. A former U.N. Secretary-General said: "She is the United
Nations. She is peace in the world. She was beatified in 2003, a step toward possible sainthood, giving

her the title "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta". Many museums, various structures and roads have been
named after Mother Teresa, including Albania's international airport.
Such unselfish and dedicated service to humanity has indeed inspired me and that is why I have chosen
Mother Teresa as my role model. I feel we all cherish to live in peace and harmony in this beautiful world.
Thank you.