A Tribute To Two Humanitarians

August ends on a sombre note with people the world over remembering two enigmatically powerful women who passed away 10 years ago.

Princess Diana died in a tragic car crash in Paris, France on August 31, 1997. She was only 36.

Thousands of kilometres away a frail Mother Teresa died of cardiac arrest in the slums of Kolkata, India on September 5, 1997. She was 87.

Both women had a calling: Diana to become the mother of the heirs of Britain and Mother Teresa to do God’s work.

The "People’s Princess" as she was aptly named was thrown into a world of palace politics at the age of 20 with her marriage to the Prince of Wales.

Resilience was their biggest strength in a sea of difficulties but that’s not to say their vulnerability was not their weakness.

Mother Teresa, on the other hand took her sacred vows at age 18 to care for the poor and the destitute and was named the "Saint of the Gutters".

The saint went on to found the Missionaries of Charity and the Princess to establish charities for the under-privileged and forgotten.

Resilience was their biggest strength in a sea of difficulties but that’s not to say their vulnerability was not their weakness.

Both were famous icons while they lived and remain that way 10 years on. Both suffered on account of their human frailties and both triumphed even in their darkest hours.

No matter how much the two suffered in their completely different ways of life, each in her way stayed calm and graceful till the end of her days.

Enough has been written and said about both women during their lives and more and more revelations continue, since the people who loved them just cannot have enough.

The outpouring of love and affection for these two most beautiful of souls will continue until they each become a legend written in the sands of time.

Their paths were different when they began their adult lives but their destinies were shared.

Nobody would have believed that the English princess and the Albanian nun might have so much in common.

They were true humanitarians.

Nirmala Janssen
editor@alnisrmedia.com
www.xpress4me.com/letters