Vicente Ferrer was born in Barcelona in 1920 and, after entering the priesthood and joining the Society of Jesus (1944), moved to India in 1952, where he has continued to perform his apostolic work. Between 1952 and 1969 he lived in the Manmad region (Bombay) where he was known as the "missionary of the wells" for the support he gave to the peasants in the construction of water wells, creating the "Rural Development Association"-one of the first organisations dedicated to the development of rural areas in India. With this period ended, the Society ordered his return to Europe; his refusal caused the Jesuits to banish him from their order. At the same time the New Delhi government ordered his expulsion from the country, a decision that was later overturned after massive protests of pariahs. Moving to the state of Andra Pradesh, he again set up irrigation systems, this time in a desert area that was completely barren. The cooperative work method that he instituted there goes by the name of "linked brotherhood": help is given to each peasant in digging his own well, with material and foodstuffs for the length of the work; when this is finished the peasant-who now can consider himself to be all but rich-helps others just as he was helped. In the face of the rigid Hindu caste system, Ferrer groups the untouchables together in democratically run communities, which has received criticism from several Hindu sectors. In Anantapur, Ferrer´s work has produced results that are truly remarkable. With a radius of action covering an area as large as Extremadura, with 1,100 villages and two million inhabitants, the following has been built: 2,500 houses (1,200 more are to be built this year and nearly 13,000 were repaired), 2 hospitals (a third of them are under construction), two family planning centres, two centres for the handicapped, hundreds of schools, numerous women´s associations. Married with three children, his work has been sponsored by the non-governmental organisation Ayuda en Acción, whose honorary president is H.R.H. Doña Pilar de Borbón. This organisation raises funds through its "sponsor a child" program.