Statue of Mother Teresa in new Albanian Cultural Garden

I picked this up from Mark Kosmo's posting on massalbanians as another tribute to the Albanian Mother Teresa and thought I should pass it along:


New Albanian Cultural Garden to feature statue of Mother Teresa

Robert Smith / Plain Dealer Reporter July 15, 2009

Another saintly presence will rise in Rockefeller Park as the Cleveland Cultural Gardens make room for a new nationality group.

Albania's favorite daughter, Mother Teresa, will anchor an Albanian Cultural Garden recently approved by the Cleveland City Council for the north end of Martin Luther King Drive.

The Albanian community plans to raise a larger-than-life statue of the late Catholic nun, who was renowned for her work with the poor of India. She will join a garden chain that already includes Mahatma Gandhi, St. Sava, Christian bishops and Greek philosophers.

The former Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born into an Albanian family in Macedonia in 1910. She is a revered figure in the local Albanian community, which has grown in recent years through immigration.

An Albanian Garden Committee hired Kreshnik Xhiku, an Albanian-American sculptor in suburban Washington, D.C., to craft a 10-foot statue of the woman many Christians consider a saint. She is to be depicted in sandals and humble clothing and with her age-lined face looking upward, to capture the sunlight.

Committee members are counting on volunteer labor to help construct a $200,000 garden by Aug. 27, 2010, Mother Teresa's 100th birthday.

To help, call Adem Meta at 440-454-1364.