Winner 1994
District Significant Achievement Award
Dudley Rotary Club is the only Club
in District 1210 to have been presented with four District
Significant Achievement Awards.
The
Pebble in the Pool
If you drop a
pebble in a pool the ripples reach far and wide. Father Anthony
Fleming dropped his stone in the water during a four yearly visit to
the Rotary Club of Dudley, his home town and with the help of Rotary
all around the world a new village for leper families in India was
born.
Father Fleming
wanted, with his belief and vision, to provide families shunned by
society with homes they could call their own. The first ripple began
when Father Fleming approached the Dudley Club to fund a project to
build 40 homes for leper families in Bargarh. Dudley took on the
challenge and the launch of the project bought help from other
Rotary Clubs in District 1210, France, Germany, schools, individuals
and Religious bodies throughout the U.K.
Leper families in
Bargarh were living in appalling conditions in mud huts on the side
of a river bank with no proper shelter, no drinking water and no
quality of life. They had become outcasts from society due to
religious dogma and had gathered together to survive. Father Fleming
wanted the lepers to have solid homes for their families to live in
instead of the primitive mud hovels that society had condemned them
to.
As soon as the
funds came in land was purchased and the ripples spread further with
work on the new solidly built homes beginning. More than £29,000
raised from all around the world went to buy the land, the materials
for the new homes and funded the labour costs over a period of 3
years.
The project has
changed the life of the leper families in Bargarh and they now have
their own houses, dignity, a pupose in life and a goal to work for.
The new village
Ashraya - an Indian word meaning Shelter - proves what can be done
by the ripples that spread from just one pebble in a pool. The
ripples are still spreading with the lepers working hard to become
self sufficient. They have their own animals and are also planning
to start a plantation and a spinning and weaving business so
everyone can work to help themselves.
A hospital and
school have also been set-up in the village to provide medical care
and education to the residents and children with funds attracted
from other sources that the ripples have reached.
Rotary Foundation
made a matching grant to assist with funding an electricity supply
and sanitation for the village, essentials not previously enjoyed by
the leper families.
These are things
that would have not been possible without the vision and caring for
the desperately poor by Father Fleming. The lepers lives have been
so drastically changed by the help received that they have said
their "thank you" by putting up a plaque on each home
dedicated to each club or organisation that raised the money. The
families are really proud of their new homes and the facilities they
have, thanks to help from around the world.
The Rotary Club of
Dudley feels privileged to have facilitated this project through its
connection with the Dudley priest Father Tony Fleming who gave 50
years of service to the poor in India. Sadly Father Tony has passed away, but his legacy lives on.
