Mother Teresa: Honoring a Woman Who Changed the Course of Healthcare
Where It All Started
In 1978, in Santa Rosa, California, the Education Task Force of Sonoma Country Commission on the Status of Women planned a Women's History Week - a celebration during the week of March 8 to correspond with International Women's Day. However, in 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation on March 8 to recognize Women's History Week.
In 1987, Congress changed Women's History Week to Women's History Month, designating March as the time to recognize and celebrate women and their achievements. In the beginning, organizations, schools, and government institutions looked to women in the past that made significant contributions to history. Now, we celebrate women who made a difference in the past and continue to make a difference today.
Mother Teresa, Our Women's History Month Hero
It is not how much we give but how much love we put into giving. - Mother Teresa.
Mother Teresa is our favorite historical figure in health care. She is recognized and revered worldwide for giving her life to the cause of caring for others. At the tender age of 12, Mother Teresa, born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, strongly felt the call of God. At 18, she left her parental home to join Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. Upon arrival in India, Mother Teresa began her order as a teacher at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta.
However, it did not take long for Mother Teresa to see the widespread poverty and suffering outside of the convent walls, which deeply affected her. Therefore In 1948, with the permission of her superiors, Mother Teresa left the convent school to devote herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. On October 7th, 1950, Mother Teresa started The Missionaries of Charity, whose core mandate was to love and care for those persons nobody else was prepared to look after. Her professionalism, patience, perseverance, and passion won her the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1979, for her work in helping the poor and the vulnerable globally.
The field of home care and its concepts would not exist without the numerous female caregivers who dedicate their lives to caring for our clients. According to the U.S. census bureau, women hold 76% of healthcare jobs. Women make such profound and professional caregivers because we are mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers, granddaughters, aunts, and spouses FIRST! Caregiving comes second to nature to most women.
At Right at Home Anne Arundel County, we draw many lessons from Mother Teresa. Her selfless and caring nature inspires us to do the same for our clients daily. Additionally, we take time to recruit and train caregivers who are patient, compassionate, attentive, dependable and trustworthy. We are humbled to have helped women from all walks of life who were homemakers themselves to successful educators, doctors, lawyers, high ranking government and military officials.
Though some of the challenges women have faced throughout history still exist, we continue to persevere!
Conclusion
The Right at Home franchise CEO Margaret Hayes, local owner Melanie Lawary, myself and many other owners within the Right at Home system have and will continue to carry the baton on from Mother Teresa in striving to improve the lives of those we serve.
If you know of someone in your life in need of respite care or requires ongoing assistance, contact us to get the process started in getting a caring hero to provide support.
