Like a patient gardener, Vicente Ferrer spent his life sowing the seeds of a better tomorrow. His conviction that every person deserves to live with dignity led him to dedicate his life to empowering rural communities in India and lifting them out of poverty. Today, twelve years after he passed away, the seeds he planted are still bearing fruit. 

Vicente Ferrer was born in Barcelona, Spain on April 9, 1920. In 1952, he arrived in Mumbai, India. The area was severely drought afflicted, and Vicente immediately set about helping the farmers of the Manmad region save their farms. He founded the Rural Development Organization and through it supplied farmers with water pumps on credit and helped to drill over 3,000 wells.

In 1969, he returned to India, this time to Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. Located in one of the driest regions in India, Anantapur barely supported any agriculture and the people there endured discrimination in a society deeply divided along caste, tribal and gender lines. Vicente, driven by his belief that everyone deserves to live with dignity, set to work empowering the people of the region.

Vicente and his wife, Anne, founded the Rural Development Trust (RDT) and began implementing a Food-for-Work program. Farmers received material assistance and food to enable them to take time off work to install their irrigation systems. When they had completed the installation, they helped other farmers the same way RDT had helped them so they could install their own irrigation systems. The ripple effect spread quickly. Through the food-for-work system, RDT helped drill 10,000 wells, build 25,000 houses and nutrition centers, and start a leprosy center all in its first five years.

Food for Work program participants. Photo by RDT

In 1976, Vicente helped open three rural hospitals in Kalyandurg, Kuderu, and Venkatampalli. The same year, the RDT’s Education Sector was founded to make education accessible to poor communities. At the time, 90% of children did even attend primary school. Vicente’s hard work has paid off. Today, the Anantapur region boasts a 100% enrollment rate in 1st grade and 99% in 6th grade.

The first RDT healthcare center in Kalyandurg ©RDT

In 1987, RDT partnered with UNICEF for the first universal immunization program in the country. During this campaign, RDT became aware of thousands of persons with disabilities living without access to basic services. To ensure that no-one was left behind, RDT established the Community-Based Rehabilitation Sector to help empower these groups. The sector established special schools for children with disabilities and an orthopedic and prosthetic workshop in Kalyandurg to build mobility devices. 

Over the following decades, the ripple effect of RDT’s efforts continued to grow. Through its Ecology Sector, RDT promoted sustainable farming, planted trees, and installed irrigation systems to combat desertification and drought. Through its habitat sector, RDT helped build safe secure housing for those still living in huts. In 2000, RDT opened a hospital in Bathalapalli. Twenty years later, Bathalapalli Hospital was designated as an official COVID-19 center and helped save countless lives during the pandemic. 

Bathalapalli Hospital as an official COVID-19 Center @ RDT

On June 19, 2009, Vicente Ferrer passed away. More than 100,000 people from India, Spain and beyond attended his funeral. He has received numerous recognitions and accolades in India and internationally for his work, most notably a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. He penned his thoughts in two books, An Encounter with Reality and the posthumously published The Power of Action.

Vicente Ferrer’s legacy lives on in RDT’s tireless work to create a more equitable society and ensure a dignified life for all, and in the Vicente Ferrer Foundations in Spain, Germany and the United States that support it. The work Vicente began and that RDT continued has touched the lives of 2.5 million people: a number that will only continue to grow. To honor Vicente’s work, RDT plants a tree in Anantapur each year on the anniversary of his passing: yet another seed sown in the name of a better tomorrow.