adminThe Herald October 18, 1979
OSLO. – The 1979 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded yesterday to Mother Teresa, an Albanian-born nun, dedicating her life to the destitute of Calcutta.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced its decision to award the prize to the 69-year-old nun after considering 56 candidates, among them President Jimmy Carter of the United States, President Urho Kekkonen of Finland, and Polish Cardinal Stefan Wyszynsky, Iana-Reuter reports.
Last year, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Menachem Begin, shared the Nobel Peace Prize.
President Carter was nominated then, but after the February 1 deadline.
The Nobel Peace Prize insignia, a gold medal and a diploma, is presented at a ceremony in the Oslo University Hall on December 10, the day of the death of Alfred Nobel, inventor of the dynamite.
Giving the grounds for the award to Mother Teresa, Mr John Sanness, chairman of the five-member committee, said she left her position as a teacher to dedicate her life to the destitute of Calcutta.
“A feature of her work has been respect for the individual human being, for his or her dignity and innate value,” he said.
“The loneliest, the most wretched, and the dying, have, at her hands, received compassion without condescension, based on reverence for man.
“In Mother Teresa’s case this basic philosophy of life is firmly rooted in her Christian faith. In Calcutta and elsewhere she enlisted the help of assistants from other religious denominations. She has also been recognised by the Indian authorities…
“In the eyes of Norwegian Nobel Committee, constructive to do away with hunger and poverty, and to ensure for mankind a safer and better world community in which to develop, should be inspired by the spirit of Mother Teresa, by respect for the worth and dignity of the individual human being.”
LESSONS FOR TODAY
The world would be a better place if people learn to be selfless and to serve others without necessarily expecting something back.
According to the Bible, faith without works is dead. Mother Teresa was a firm believer in Christian values, and by dedicating her life to assisting the destitute she was exercising her faith just like St Francis of Assisi.
Good works will never go unnoticed. Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, but was honoured 29 years later in 1979.
You do not have to be rich and powerful to make a difference in society. Sometimes it only takes one act of kindness to make a huge difference. Mother Teresa created a foundation renowned worldwide for assisting the needy from very humble beginnings.
Similarly, in Zimbabwe we have people like the late national hero Jairo Jiri, who also founded the Jairos Jiri Association, in 1950, which then evolved into a unique humanitarian and developmental agency which has continued to function as a catalyst in the transformation of lives of people with disabilities in the country.
Online Reporter