I have known of Joe Homan's work in South India for quiet a while. His brother, John, was an active member of Whittlesey Catholic Community when I was in ministry there, and we often would hear about the work initiated by Joe in his "Boys' Towns". Before a previous visit to Tamil Nadu, and knowing that we were going to be spending some time near Madurai, we had been asked to take a parcel out to 'a Joe Homan home for girls' (the only address we had). I couldn't locate it when we arrived in Madurai; after all, Madurai is a big city! I mentioned the parcel to our host, Dr Chris Lucas, and asked him if there was any way in which I might be able to send the parcel to it's proper destination. "I'm having supper with Joe Homan tonight" was his reply! Unbeknown to me, Joe Homan was living next door to where we were staying! I resolved that the next time we visited Tamil Nadu (and Cardamom House), I would try to visit the man himself, and see some of his work, of which I had heard so much in our "Fenland" days.
On the second day of our stay at Cardamom House, a group of men were meeting with Chris Lucas, deep in conversation from before breakfast through to lunchtime. Being of an inquisitive nature, I wondered who they were, but thought no more of it, until after lunch I mentioned to our splendid guide, Pandi, that I would like to have the opportunity to meet Joe Homan sometime. "He's here now." he replied. What a thrill to meet the man himself so unexpectedly.Joe arranged for us to visit the nearby Athoor Boys' Town, and he would travel down from the hills (he was no-longer living next door to Cardamom House) to show us the complex and to introduce us to the lads the next day. These pictures are of that visit. Joe, now 83 years old, has dedicated his life to lifting the lives of thousands of boys and girls (literally) out of the gutter into something really worthwhile. Degradation to dignity, through care, education and a sense of purpose and worth. What a privilege to meet him and to see the fruits of his work.
Who is Joe Homan? Thanks to his book "Miles o' Smiles" (a signed copy of which he gave to us as a memento of our visit) there is a convenient "shorthand" account of his life at the back - here's a shorthand version of the shorthand version........
"Joe was born of Dutch parents who emigrated to England in 1934. As a twelve-year old, he was a boarder at St Joseph's College in Ipswich; on leaving school he went back home to work in horticulture for three years, but a vocation to the Christian Brotherhood took him back to his old school for six years. He was sent by the Order to Pakistan for a year, before being moved to South India to help pioneer work amongst poor youngsters. The sight of malnourished children, existing on the platforms of Madurai Railway Station, filled Joe's heart with compassion. He felt God calling him todo something about this. He returned to the UK, left the Order, and sailed back to Tamil Nadu. He had just £200 in his pocket, some of which he was able to convert into 48 transistor radios (the return on which was good enough to help him get started on his first Boys' Town near Madurai).
In ten years he established eleven Boys' Towns, and one Girls' Town, in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka and Thailand.Alongside of this, he pioneered his "Rural Development" programme, and through a "Child Labour Prevention" programme was able to help some 15,000 poverty-stricken girls to exchange their Child Labour Bond for five years of secondary education, lifting them out of the bondage trap and into the security of proper work.
His own experience in the family business of Market Gardening was never wasted. In the first twenty years the Boys Towns specialised in giving the youngsters a grounding in good farming, so that each would leave with farming skills and milking buffaloes, sheep or with a pair of oxen, a cart and a plough, and so leave the poverty into which they had been born behind them. Latterly those with the aptitude were encouraged to opt for college or Industrial Training Institutes, of which many are springing-up in Tamil Nadu. Joe has devoted forty-five years of his life to uplifting the poorest of the poor, and has vowed to continue this until his last breath! The Joe Homan Charity HQ is in Peterborough, and the website - www.joehoman.org.uk
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