Why can a saint be considered as a role model?

Answer 1

Not all societies hold the same values and what is virtuous in one may not be so in another. Saints are made by man, so those values held by those making the saints are reflected in the type of people that society admires. Or at least those that have the power to grant sainthood.

Answer 2

Saints all possess certain virtues that we should emulate. Rather than looking to rock stars or athletes as role models, we should look to those who truly have qualities that are worth imitating. God makes saints. The Church merely goes through a canonization process to verify beyond a shadow of a doubt that the person is actually in heaven. Contributing to the betterment of the corporal needs of the less fortunate is, as far as I know, considered a virtue in any culture. Mother Teresa of Calcutta is a prime example. Most of the people she served were not even Christian, rather they were Muslim and Hindu. She did not ask their religious affiliation nor try to convert them. She simply went about her mission of helping them even if that consisted of little more than providing them a bit of comfort in their final hours and allowing them to die with some dignity and not alone in the gutters of Calcutta.