14 CREEK LANE
During her first months on the Calcutta streets, Mother Teresa’s spiri-
tual advisor, Father Van Exem, watched carefully to see how she was hold-
ing up. After talking, both he and she decided that it was time for her to
have a place of her own where she could start her work and no longer im-
pose on the Little Sisters of the Poor. But Mother Teresa’s first efforts to
find affordable housing met with little success. Often landlords would not
keep their appointments. Others, upon seeing the strange European nun
with no visible means of support, refused outright to rent to her. Mother
Teresa did not lose heart, but identified her plight with that of the people
she served. She later wrote:
Our Lord just wants me to be a “Free Nun,” covered with the
poverty of the Cross. But today I have learned a good lesson—
the poverty of the poor must often be too hard for them.... I
walked and walked till my legs and arms ached. I thought how
they must also ache in body and soul, looking for home, food,
help.”^4Father Van Exem finally stepped in. He spoke to a member of a Bengali
Catholic family, Albert Gomes, who, along with his brothers, owned a
sizeable property at 14 Creek Lane in East Calcutta. One brother, Michael
Gomes, lived in the house with his family. Finally an agreement was
reached in which Mother Teresa would move into a room on the second
floor. She would pay no rent. The home’s location was later described by
Mother Teresa as “rich in its poverty.”^5
In February 1949, she moved into her new quarters, bringing with her
only a small suitcase. Her room was spartan in appearance: a single chair,
a packing case for a desk, and some extra wooden boxes for seats. The wall
was adorned with an image of the Virgin Mary, a gift from Father Van
Exem who had originally received it from Mother Teresa as a Christmas
gift years before.
Mother Teresa now had some helpers who accompanied her so that she
would not be alone in the slums. Charur Ma, a widow who was the cook
at St. Mary’s at Entally, often went with her on shopping trips. Mable
Gomes, the young daughter of the family with whom she boarded, also
went with Mother Teresa on occasion. Even Michael Gomes, when he
had time, went with Mother Teresa to chemists’ shops, similar to Ameri-
can pharmacies, to ask for donations of medical supplies. Father Van
Exem sent a parish worker to accompany her on some of her daily visits to
the poor and dying. She was even joined by some of her former students
44 MOTHER TERESA