_By K. Govindaraju, Founder – SEVAI, Tiruchirappalli_
Some people build houses. A few rare souls build human beings. Prof. Michael Antony Windey was one such soul.
Born in Belgium in 1930, Prof. M.A. Windey, SJ came to India as a Jesuit priest and philosopher, but he chose to remain as a son of this soil. Deeply moved by the poverty he saw in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, he founded the *Village Reconstruction Organisation (VRO) in Guntur* with a revolutionary yet simple idea: development cannot be donated, it must be built by the people themselves.
Through his famous *shramadan labour camps*, he brought together village youth, students from across India, and volunteers from Europe. Side by side, they laid bricks, mixed cement, and raised over 10,000 homes, schools, and community halls. For him, a house was not just concrete and roof — it was dignity for a Dalit family, security for a widow, and hope for a landless labourer.
I was fortunate to be mentored by him for a decade in my formative years. He did not teach in classrooms; he taught on construction sites. From him I learned the three mantras that became the foundation of SEVAI in 1984:
*1. Simplicity:* Live simply so that others may simply live.
*2. Self-reliance:* Empower villages to solve their own problems.
*3. Service to the last:* Always start with the poorest of the poor.
Prof. M.A. Windey would often say, _"Go to the villages, live with them, and let them lead."_ That spirit guides SEVAI even today in our work with women's groups, child education, and village infrastructure across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
He left us in 2009, but he lives on. He lives on in every village he rebuilt, and in every activist he moulded.
To me, he was not just a founder of an organisation. He was my Guru, who taught me that true service is to disappear into the joy of others.
_In eternal gratitude,_
*K. Govindaraju*
Founder, SEVAI, Tiruchirappalli
20, September 2026.
