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Mother Teresa Celebrates 87th Birthday

CALCUTTA, India (AP) -- Mother Teresa turned 87 Tuesday to the cheers and applause of hundreds of school children and aid workers who gathered at the headquarters of the charity organization she founded in Calcutta's slums.

``It's a great feeling to have witnessed 50 years of Indian independence,'' Mother Teresa told the well-wishers, speaking from a balcony of the Missionaries of Charity order.

The Albanian-born nun assured the crowd that she was in good health. She stepped down as head of the order this year after a heart attack, lung infection and kidney problems.

Mother Teresa, who won the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize for her service to the poor, started the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta soon after Indian won independence from Britain in 1947.

The order has since grown to include more than 500 orphanages, soup kitchens and other projects all over the world.

Though no longer at the helm of the order, Mother Teresa continues as its most popular representative and fund-raiser. She recently returned from a tour of Europe and the United States.