He’s came
down for Divali.
I thought I
would see an English gentlemen who, doing whole a lot of good for the Indian
society, would however present this attitude of a white executor on undeveloped
land.
How wrong I
was! Instead I met a gentle-men, soft in his manners and his words. A person
whose goal was and still is to help the children get better future for
themselves and their families.
Let me tell
you a story about Joe Homan.
As a young
chap he was send (a missionary) to one of the poorest countries to work with
children. I don’t remember if it was India or somewhere in Africa. The place
turned out to be a sort of a boarding school for children of rather rich
families and stressing very much Christian religion.
That was not
what Joe wanted. He wanted to help poor children and in secular conditions.
He resigned
and came to India. Some Indian friends offered him a land to use and do whatever
project he wanted for as long as he wanted. Joe got into something he likes very
much – farming. He was going to Madurai train station and talked to homeless
boys who were hanging out there. He invited them to come to this village near
Thiramangalam. They can stay there, learn farming, help with the work and leave
whenever they are ready. The boys were reluctant at first. But there was one
who came, then another and the word has spread. Starting from a farm with 5
young adults, he had no clue about farming rice, bananas and coconuts or tea
and coffee. Nor he had an idea about poultry and yet they run a farm with
chicken. Learning from his neighbours within 3 years they have reached some
capital.
The boys
learnt farming but what is more important they learnt that they can do sth
constructive with their lives.
In 1964 Joe
has started the first Boys Town. They build simple buildings on the land that
could accommodate about 70 children. He was going to surrounding villages,
talking to the olders of a village about the families in need and what he could
offer. By then he was already doing fund rising in UK to sponsor the children.
It was a
revolution! You must think of India back then. There were very few schools, for
most villages not accessible. The obligation for schooling didn’t exist (came
in only in 1990) and kids were supposed to work. Houses were made of clay, no
floors, forget about electricity, running water or decent roads. Most of the
families would have one vegetarian meal a day.
Joe
impressed me with his sense of enterprising and taking any opportunity to
enhance the living. Simple example: they dig a huge well (or rather exploded it
‘cause there was a bit bolder) for irrigation water. There was some fish in it.
Joe hang the light above the middle part of the well in the way that insects
would fly around the light, fell into the water and feed the fish. This way
every week there would be fresh fish for dinner in the Boys Town.
Every time I
spoke with Joe (he is a great story teller) he would tell me about yet another
way of making business and earning the money for the Boys Town. They would grow
chicken, pigs, cows, having plantation of this or that, whatever paid better at
the period. He started a factory of coconut powder and exported it even to
Holland. He had a project of making banners for Rotary Clubs all over the
world. Etc, etc, etc. He would start a project, train people and move on to sth
else.
The charity
grew and grew. They had 6 Boys Towns, 2 Girls Towns and 2 Children Villages.
Joe was coming to UK and Belgium at least twice a year and was doing a thorough
fund rising that would keep them going. I’m saying Joe but of course I mean a
lot of people who were supporting his ideas and actions.
Alongside
the Boys/Girls Town, the JHC/BTS carries out other schemes of social projects.
For example back in 70ties and 80ties they developed a scheme "Children in
labour". They had chosen to aim only girls (in about 50 villages) in order
to get them into the education system. They would go to the olders of a village
and ask “how much a girl earns per day?”. Usually it would be 5-7 rps.
The next
question followed:” would they be ready to send the girl to school if they get
this money?” They were suspicious but finally one village agreed and then came
the others. Of course, JHC monitored it closely and checked the attendance of
the girls at school. For a presence close to 100% the family would get a bonus
- a cow!!! That was a big motivator! Soon in the villages, one by one the cows
started to appear.
Back then there
was a government scheme: if in a certain perimeter there would be gathered 100
cows, they would send a truck to pick up the milk every day. At the end of a
month a family would get the money they earned on milk. The goal was easy to
reach: in a village of 50 families, if they send 2children to school or had
good attendance over a few years, they quickly get to the required number in a
horde.
“Children in
labour” would be limited to 5 years. By then the villagers saw and learnt all
the benefits they could possibly withdraw from this situation (like the fact
that cows eat weed, so no weeding was necessary; they produce good manure so
the crop grew better, etc, etc... ). The scheme would move on to other 50
villages in another region. Over 20 years JHC covered the vast region. At some
point no talking was needed – the older were coming to Joe and ask to take them
into the scheme.
I find it
such a brilliant project!
Just getting
the kids to school created a chain of economical changes that raise the
standard of living not only for those girls but for the whole families. The
girls started to be valuable and not only a burden for a family.
The cost of
sponsoring a girl off the labour was incomparably cheaper than doing so for the
boys living out of their families in Boys Town, covering costs of food,
logging, person to supervise, etc.
There was
and there is numerous similar projects in JHC. Many of, so called “old boys”
(the boys who finished their education and are into professional adult life),
find the employment in this various projects.
Joe is now
82 years old. He comes across as a calm, serene, peaceful man, with a strong
will but not imposing. He is very tolerant and open-minded. He must have been
very dynamic. The “old boys”, who I’ve met, told me that he was hard working and
always busy man. The boys needed to be able to follow him.
Joe himself
speaks about these young men, who he raised, with a lot of respect and
recognition for their will to learn and try. He said the best way to teach them
anything was to just do it by himself. Then one after another the boys would
come and asked him if they could have a go and try.
Such a power
of action!!! Great intelligence, great relational skills cause he has done all
this thanks to people next to him. And after all that, he is a humble man in a
dirty polo shirt, telling the stories and sharing his new fascinations: butterflies.
He has
always lived with the boys. In 2008 they closed one of them, up in the
mountains. Joe stayed there ‘cause the cool air serves him better than the heat
of the plains. They turned this Boys Town into an Environmental Centre :-)
There are
facilities to loge school groups over a weekend and do nature activities with
them. They go bird watching and having eco classes to bring awareness
concerning global warming and other environmental issues.
2 or 3 of
the boys rooms are made into guest cottages with tiled floors and a bathroom,
big bed, nice ambiance. The area is transformed in a very friendly, green web
of alleys and flowerbeds. Around tall tall trees, birds and frogs. In the echo
of the forest you can hear cheerful kids who came for a weekend or those from
the village, who came to have a swim. Charming, charming place...
Joe, of
course, hasn’t given up on farming. They grow coffee and pepper there. Recently
they’ve started a pig stale. The farm brings a good couple of laks a year…that
goes to support the children…always the children…
That is my
story of Joe Homan, an English gentle man.
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