Ian first met Mother Teresa of Calcutta (as she was known then, in 1982) when he was 18. He fundraised in Walsall, England for her charity, and then took the money to her in Calcutta. He spent a year working for her charities in Bombay, in the leper colonies in Calcutta, and then in London. He wrote ‘A Ripple of Love’, published in 1986, about her work, and has served to be a huge influence in Ian’s life since.
Why St. Teresa of Calcutta?
Mother Teresa established the ‘Missionaries of Charity’, a religious congregation that was initially dedicated to serving “the poorest of the poor” in the slums of Calcutta in 1950. Over the decades, the congregation grew to operate in 138 countries, with more than 4,500 nuns managing homes for those dying from HIV/AIDS, leprosy, and tuberculosis, as well as running soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, orphanages, and schools. Mother Teresa was honoured several times, including the 1962 Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize and the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.