How did Mother Teresa fight injustice?

Answer 1

A:

Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity, opened her first hospice for the dying destitute in Calcutta in 1950. This hospice, which has a capacity of just under 100 beds, has since been joined, around the world, by several other small hospices for the dying. One criticism that has been made of these hospices is that they provide pain relief other than mild analgesics such as aspirin, although the order could easily afford medical treatment. Dr. Robin Fox, editor of the British medical journal The Lancet visited the Home for Dying Destitutes in Calcutta and observed that sisters and volunteers, some of whom had no medical knowledge, were making decisions about patient care. Dr. Fox observed that her order did not distinguish between curable and incurable patients, so that people who could otherwise survive would be at risk of dying from infections and lack of treatment. He noted that the sisters' approach to managing pain was "disturbingly lacking."

Answer 2

A:

Mother Teresa is famous for working with the poor in Calcutta and elsewhere around the world. She was a truly great communicator, and there are many quotes that show her compassionate side. However, those who observed Mother Teresa at work saw a less compassionate side.

A truly compassionate person would want to alleviate pain and suffering whenever possible, yet Mother Teresa gloried in the suffering of those around her, believing that it was God's will that they suffer. She cared for those with leprosy, but did not provide the antibiotics that would have cured them. She cared for the dying destitute, but refused to provide strong painkillers, even for those with the unbearable pain of cancer. Sanal Edamaruku, President of Rationalist International, criticised the failure to give painkillers, writing that in her Homes for the Dying, one could "hear the screams of people having maggots tweezered from their open wounds without pain relief. On principle, strong painkillers were not administered even in severe cases."

Critics say that this indifference was not because of the lack of financial resources, since the Missionaries of Charity is believed to receive over a hundred million dollars a year in donations. Mother Teresa never herself refused strong painkillers or anaesthetics.

Answer 3

Mother Teresa provided the same pain killers to her patients that would have been provided them in a hospital in India. Strong pain killers, such as opiates, were not allowed in India at the time. She could only administer across-the-counter drugs such as aspirin.

Answer 4

Mother Teresa only permitted the use of simple painkillers such as aspirin, even for extreme pain. She saw beauty in suffering, explaining, "There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ's Passion. The world gains much from their suffering." For her, anything that she might otherwise have done to alleviate pain and suffering was pointless.

Aroup Chatterjee, in his deposition before the committee for beatification/canonization of Mother Teresa in February 1998, stated that she herself had never declined painkillers or anaesthetics.

Answer 5

Mother Teresa made it clear over and over that she was not running a hospital but a hospice for the dying. Not being a doctor herself nor, at the time, having a doctor on her staff, she could not obtain most prescription medications and had to use only what was available over the counter.

In India strong pain killers were strictly controlled. Even registered medical facilities found them nearly impossible to obtain so you can imagine the difficulties Mother Teresa experienced, having no medical training nor any doctors on her staff. About the only medications she had available were acetaminophen or aspirin which could be obtained without a prescription. It was not until 2012 that India began to realize the importance of pain management and loosened the regulations somewhat.

Today Mother Teresa's order has been able to recruit medical staff as well as found clinics that are able to obtain and dispense medicines that Mother Teresa did not have access to.

Answer 6

Mother Teresa did not really provide high-level hospital care or medication, but hospices that allowed people to die with dignity. She cared for those with leprosy, but did not provide the antibiotics that would have cured them, preferring instead that donations go towards building convents to help in spreading the Christian message. In fact, she refused the readily-available low-cost basic medication that could have eased suffering for those in acute pain, saying that it was God's will that they suffer. A great many of her patients were Hindus and Muslims, and her greatest wish was that they be baptised as Christians before dying.

Answer 7

Mother Teresa was all about showing love. She fought injustice by speaking out against things that were not right in this world.

Answer 8

Mother Teresa suffered from recurring bouts with malaria that eventually led to heart and lung damage which were responsible for three heart attacks, the third one causing her death in 1997.

Answer 9

she Kept on Believing in her goal