Teresa was born in 1910 in a town called Skopje, then part of the Ottoman Empire, today the capital city of Macedonia. She always loved to hear stories about missionaries working to help people in different countries around the world. She was active in the Catholic church for her whole life, and when she was 18 years old she moved to an Abbey in Ireland to learn English and train to be a missionary.
Mother Teresa's given name was Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu; she picked the name Teresa for herself after she moved to India in 1929. She completed her training as a nun while teaching at St. Teresa's school, which was near her convent. When she took her religious vows in 1931, she chose to be named after Therese de Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries.
She later moved to Calcutta, India, to teach at the Loreto Convent school. She enjoyed the job but was often disturbed by the suffering and violence she saw in the streets of Calcutta. She wondered what she could do to help.

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