Who can outdo St. Teresa of Kolkata in charity? The founder of Missionaries of Charity and a recipient of the Noble Peace prize has left behind a charity legacy, which is hard to live up to, let alone surpass. But, I know of a six-year-old girl who once astonished me, saying, “I do much more than Mother Teresa”. Believe me, she wasn’t kidding.
The little girl is Olivia, who I met at a church in Kolkata (West Bengal) a year ago. She narrated to me the story of how her charity mission began. One Sunday, bored with a long winding homily, Olivia sneaked out the church, when her mother wasn’t paying attention. There were many children of her age playing outside. Olivia was not interested in joining them. A packet of chips in her hand, she took a stroll around the campus. She saw a thin, hungry looking boy, standing at the main gate. Olivia approached the boy and gave him her chips. The joy Oliva saw on the face of the boy as he received the snack touched her profoundly.
“That was the starting point of my charity,” Olivia said.
It has since grown bigger. ‘Kids helping other less fortunate kids’ is the mantra of Olivia. She managed to rope in other children and together they have initiated a number of projects. These children collect clothes, shoes, pencils, erasers, crayons clips, and ribbons, and on a fixed day they visit a poor neighborhood and distribute the articles to the poor children there. Olivia’s sense of empathy is remarkable. “When I remember the poor children during my exam, “she says, “I forget all that I study.”
Olivia conceives her future as one dedicated to the welfare of poor kids. She says, “I want to study well and become a government officer. Then I will have enough money and power to take care of the poor children.”
It is interesting that St Teresa of Kolkata, who Olivia aims to better in charity, began her mission with children. Working at a prestigious school in Kolkata, Sr Teresa instilled in the children the need to help the poor. She often took her class children to collect food, clothes and other items for distribution to the poor.
An inspired student saved her portion of sugar each day at home and brought it one day to Mother Teresa. When Mother Teresa began a new congregation for the poor, its founding members were her former students. They responded willingly to her call, attracted by her words and deeds. She accomplished much with children.
In fancy dress competitions at schools, one could see many kids dress up like Mother Teresa. Recalling her nursey days, Lucy, now 22, says, “I was only five years old then. But I still remember the day when they draped a blue and white saree around me and asked me to walk on the stage with a poor child. The incident left in me a deep impression for the poor, which is alive even today.”
Rony Lopes, aged 7, who adores Mother Teresa, says, “St Teresa is a mother to all, not only to the poor but even to the bad people.” The canonization of Mother Teresa has renewed interest in the saint of the poor. In a school painting competition recently, a seven-year-old drew a picture of Mother Teresa carrying hundreds of abandoned babies in her cloth bag.
The idealism and heroism of Mother Teresa kindles the kids’ imagination. It has the capacity to propel them onto a journey of charity, like it happened in the case of Olivia and her little friends. There can be no age barrier to charity and mercy.
Adults can learn from these children. The most acclaimed saint of our times has inspired millions all over the world: dignitaries and diplomats, rich and poor, young and old. The greatest honor that we could ever pay to her is to continue her mission of mercy in our own little ways. Will little Olivia ever outdo Mother Teresa in charity? Hard to say. But, isn’t it a noble dream that all of us need to have?