Village Reconstruction Organization

The Village Reconstruction Organization (VRO) is an association in Pedakakani, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. It supports structurally weak, impoverished and officially not even officially registered villages in the coastal regions of southeast India. So far, more than 400 of these village communities have been able to rebuild their villages, many of which have been destroyed by natural disasters, with the help of the VRO. In this context, a large number of training and health centers, kindergartens, old people's homes and programs for targeted support of women were created at the same time. The VRO is supported by several organizations in different European countries. They inform about the work of the VRO, coordinate the initiatives, collect, manage and transfer donations and advise the VRO India. In Germany, VRO Deutschland eV takes on this task.

Emergence

When you've lost everything, you have two things left: your hands and your neighbors. (Father Michael Windey SJ)

Father Michael Windey SJ, founder of the VRO

The association was founded in 1971 by the Belgian Jesuit Michael Windey († 2009) under Indian law. After a twenty-year university career as a sociologist at the Jesuit College in Ranchi (Bihar), he gave up his professorship. He left university and followed Gandhi's suggestion to devote his life to the forgotten villages of India: Well-organized villages, economically and above all socially secure, would give the rural population living in poverty emancipatory power and a natural barrier against the rising population Generate a tendency towards rural exodus. Through his commitment and his special charisma, he was able to inspire countless people for this vision. The movement has long since reached people in Europe who accompany the VRO practically, financially and spiritually and who find in their lives the experience that especially difficult times hold potential for change and further development.

In recent years there has been a series of restructuring in the organization of the VRO, taking into account the requirements of a changed global situation. The organizational model of the VRO is based on partnership between the people in the Indian villages and the sponsors from Europe. Today around 350 employees work for the VRO in around 130 locations. In May 2010 the Indian Father Santiago SJ succeeded Father Windey as operational director.

Fields of activity

Real development aid does not mean: We made it! But rather: What's next? (Father Michael Windey SJ)

The VRO organizes its diverse tasks in three main areas: village construction, village development programs and village service centers.

Village construction is based entirely on the villagers' own responsibility and the principle of partnership-based cooperation. After a period of preparation, the actual construction process begins, which the villagers carry out themselves with the support of experts. VRO experts and volunteers accompany the construction processes in which the entire village community is involved. Such a process begins with the joint decision for a comprehensive internal and external development, the application for the village renewal by the village community. After an analysis by the VRO, the village is going through a longer test phase. Then the construction phase is prepared: resource planning, contract conclusion, land clearing, creation of construction plans, planning of material procurement. Only now does the actual construction process follow by the villagers under the guidance of the VRO with the support of experts and then the inauguration of the village.

Experience has shown that the cost of building a village with 50 families is around 100,000 euros.

The VRO then supports the village development programs of the village communities, which deal with social and cultural development processes. Great importance is attached to reactivating the strengths that originally existed in the village: traditional skills and knowledge, young talents and ideas, cultural treasures.

A third major field of activity are the village service centers: schools and craft training facilities, health services and children's and old people's homes.

philosophy

The VRO sees itself as an advocate, mouthpiece and trustee of the poor who have important things to say and show to the world. The dignity of the people - the poor - is preserved by accepting the challenge of village renewal as a community and consciously deciding to seek help as partners. In its work, the VRO is concerned with more than the physical result (e.g. safe, stable houses) and more than the socio-economic improvements (e.g. wells, paths, schools, health centers, etc.). It basically deals with four essential aspects of human life: Job opportunities and personal income: Employment. Social, structural and biological environment: Environment. Education, Awareness and Awareness: Enlightenment. Culture, tradition and joy: Enjoyment.

A basic idea of the concrete and at the same time visionary village building in the sense of Gandhi and Windey is the "trusteeship". What we think we have - be it talents or riches, land or power, work or friends - is in safe hands, but it is not ours. This is where the central ideas of the world religions meet: to lead a simple life in partnership with the poor, use the gifts received for everyone and understand yourself together with the others as searching and learning people. This philosophy not only teaches the simplicity of possession, thought and word. It is itself simple and understandable for everyone, for the uneducated and intellectual, for atheists and religious people, for rich and poor. The VRO tries to act on such simple principles of humanity.

Areas of application

The VRO's activities, which originally began in the state of Andhra Pradesh , have been expanded over the years to include the states of Rajasthan , Maharashtra , Tamil Nadu and Orissa . Today the VRO is active in the three south-eastern coastal countries: Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Tamil Nadu.

Awards and honors

National and international prizes and honors for Father Windey and the work of the VRO:

1972 Best NGO and Gandhi Award (Guntur)
1994 International Man of the Year Award (USA)
1998–99, 2001 Nomination for Intern Livelihood Award (Finland)
2000 International Environment Award (Nepal)
2001 Millennium Award for Industrial and Social Peace (XLRI)
2002 Global Peace Award (Zug, Switzerland)
2004 Vredesprijs Kerk en Leven-2003 (Belgium)
2005 Knight of the Order of Leopold Award (Belgium)
2006 Servant of the Poor Award (CNRI, New Delhi)

literature

Josef Hainz (Ed.): Fire must burn. Villages for India. Festschrift for Father Michael A. Windey SJ on the occasion of his 75th birthday on April 28, 1996 from his friends in Europe. Hardcover, Kelkheim-Eppenhain, self-published, 2nd edition (1996)
Sustainable Development. Theoretical conception and case study. Seminar paper by Tobias Schmitt, University of Tübingen, geographical institute (SS 1997), available from VRO Deutschland eV
Duffner, Felix: Use of water power by water wheels. Institute for Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Machines at the University of Fridericana in Karlsruhe (TH), August 1993, available from VRO Deutschland eV