Vicenç Ferrer Moncho

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In this
Spanish name, the first or paternal surname
is Ferrer and the second or maternal family name is Moncho.
Vicenç Ferrer Moncho
Prince of Asturias Award for Concord
(1998)

Vicente Ferrer Moncho (9 April 1920 – 19 June 2009)

Southern India. Today the Vicente Ferrer Foundation carries out humanitarian projects in Andhra Pradesh, bringing aid to over 2.5 million poor people.[2]

Biography

Childhood and youth

Vicente Ferrer was born in

concentration camp. As he had not committed any crimes in the conflict, he opted to return to Spain and was handed over by the French authorities to Franco's Spanish authorities in Hendaya, by whom he was confined in a concentration camp located near Betanzos
, Galicia, in 1939.

He was finally released from the camp; however, he had to undertake a further two years of military service. On his discharge, he finished seven years in the military including the war years, his incarceration and his second spell of military service. In 1944 he abandoned his law studies and became a

Jesuit.[3][4]

Missionary work

He arrived in India in 1952 as a Jesuit missionary. In 1958, after deciding to increase his focus on helping the poor, he and a group of followers created the "Rural Development Association" in Manmad (north of Mumbai). This organisation started with twelve acres of land and a school. Although due to the crisis in rural areas, many peasants wanted to emigrate, Vicente Ferrer encouraged local peasants to dig wells and told them "I will pay you with wheat and oil." He supplied them with water pumps on credit and with no interest charges or guarantees. The organisation has been involved in the construction of 3,000 wells.

After the publication of the article "The Silent Revolution" in 1968 in

Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh
. He left the Jesuits in 1970 but continued his humanitarian work along with his English wife the former journalist Anne Perry.

After his return, he started another project in Anantapur; he again set up irrigation systems, this time in a desert area that was completely barren. The cooperative work method that he instituted there goes by the name of "linked brotherhood": help is given to each peasant in digging his own well, with material and food for the length of the work; when this is finished the peasant helps others in the same way.

Vicente in 1969 founded Rural Development Trust, a non-governmental organisation committed to the progress of vulnerable and disadvantaged communities in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, in Southern India. Since its inception in 1969, the organisation has endeavoured to improve the quality of life of the rural poor, with a particular emphasis on women, children and people with disabilities. It has progressively implemented comprehensive development programmes involving all areas of development.

Vicente Ferrer Foundation

Ferrer started the Vicente Ferrer Foundation in 1969 with his wife, Anna Ferrer, in Andhra Pradesh. The foundation, which mainly works with the Dalit caste, organised wells and irrigation systems, has funded three hospitals, an AIDS clinic, a family planning centre,[5] 14 rural clinics, 1,700 schools, some 30,000 houses and the planting of over 3 million trees. The work of the foundation has improved the lives of more than 2.5 million people.[6]

In 1998 he was awarded Spain's

Prince of Asturias Award for Concord.[7]

Ferrer was admitted to the emergency ward of Anantapur hospital on 20 March 2009 after suffering a

cerebrovascular accident (a stroke).[8] He died on 19 June 2009 at the age of 89 from cardio-respiratory failure.[9]

Tributes

On 14 May 2009 the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and the Ministry for Education announced the creation of the National Awards for Development Education Vicente Ferrer.[10] Which rewards publicly funded schools for developing activities, educational experiences, educational projects or proposals to sensitise, educate, develop critical thinking and encourage active participation of students in the pursuit of global citizenship, compassion, commitment to the eradication of poverty and its causes and sustainable human development.[11]

In July 2009

Airbus A320s after the missionary, following an agreement signed with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation.[12]

On 1 February 2010 an independent group nominated the Vicent Ferrer Foundation for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.[13][14]

Awards received

References

  1. ^ Vicente Ferrer fallece en la India
  2. ^ www.tributes.com" consulted 29 January 2012
  3. ^ timesonline.co.uk
  4. ^ Un recluso en Betanzos, llamado Vicente Ferrer[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Michael Eaude (23 July 2009). "Vicente Ferrer". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  6. ^ "Briefly: Vicente Ferrer". The Independent. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2012.[dead link]
  7. ^ "Vicente Ferrer a life of action". Prince of Asturias Foundation. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  8. ^ "Vicente Ferrer, en estado crítico en un hospital indio por una embolia". elmundo.es. 21 March 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  9. ^ Daniel Woolls, Associated Press (June 2009). "Vicente Ferrer: Spanish humanist who worked with India's poor dies". www.tributes.com. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  10. ^ "III. OTRAS DISPOSICIONES MINISTERIO DE ASUNTOS EXTERIORES Y DE COOPERACIÓN" (PDF). BOLETÍN OFICIAL DEL ESTADO. 22 May 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  11. ^ "Education for Development". Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID). Archived from the original on 27 June 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  12. Agencia EFE (24 July 2009). "Un Airbus de Spanair llevará el nombre de Vicente Ferrer". La Vanguardia
    . Retrieved 24 July 2009.
  13. ^ Costa Tropical "Vicente Ferrer, una fundación digna de un Nobel[permanent dead link]" Consulted 6 February 2010
  14. ^ "Nobel Peace Prize for RDT founder?". The Hindu. 3 August 2010." consulted 29 January 2012
  15. ^ Premio Príncipe de Asturias de la Concordia 1998
  16. ^ Vicente Ferrer recibe la gran cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil del Gobierno español
  17. ^ "Vicente Ferrer gana el premio Català de l'Any". El Periódico de Catalunya. 1 April 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
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