KIRKSPIRE AUGUST 2006
THE RIBER MEMORIAL DAY CARE CENTRE 3
THE REV HAROLD N RIBER
Murdoch MacKenzie
On 31st May 1973 an Indian Airlines Boeing flight from Madras crashed just outside Delhi in which 48 people lost their lives. They included the distinguished politician Kumaramangalam and Rev Harold N. Riber. ‘Ribe’ as he was affectionately known, was a Lutheran minister, working with the newly formed Inter Church Service Agency (ICSA) but who previously had worked in India for over 25 years, particularly among the Santal people in the north. He and I were working together in various projects across the city of Madras and with Mary, his wife, he had become a member of the Kirk and a member of the Kirk Session.
When he became a member of the Kirk Session, I remember saying to him that although he was on very many committees of one kind or another, he should not think of the Kirk Session as simply another committeee but as something different. Quick as a flash he replied: ‘No. This is the centre of things.’ For him there was no doubt where the centre lay. Whilst his compassion and his friendliness and his shrewd assessment reached out into many areas in Church and State, with Lutherans and the C.S.I. , in Tamil Nadu and in Bangla Desh, in Leprosy Rehabilitation and Population Education, to young students and to senior citizens, in the slums or in the Madras Club – wherever he was or wherever he went he had no doubt at all about the centre of things! Those who met him had no doubt either that here was a man, who without piety or pretentiousness, had a living and dynamic faith which was centred in the love of Jesus Christ.
At the Memorial Service on Sunday night 10th June 1973 the Kirk was packed to capacity as men and women from all walks of life in Madras, and from far beyond, came to pay their tributes. They included Stephen E. Palmer United States Consul General, Viji Srinivasan the Executive Officer of the New Residents Welfare Trust and Rev Munshi Tudu, President of the Santal Church. Rev Riber was described as a great American, as a man who had implicit trust in indigenous Indian leadership and as a person who was loved by everyone in the villages of Santalia from the youngest children to the most senior elders.
The Bible was read by Rev Dr W.P. Peery of the Lutheran Church in America and the sermon was preached by Rt Rev J.E.L. Newbigin, Bishop in Madras. The Bishop addressed the question as to why such terrible accidents happen and said they have to be understood as part of the error and imperfection of a world which is still being set free from its bondage and decay and in which we have to work for liberation, including that of the deprived and rejected for whom ‘Ribe’ gave his life. We do all this in the knowledge that Jesus continues to intercede for us and in the knowledge that we can be sure that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Mrs Mary Riber and her children came, all dressed in white, and a Thankoffering was taken for the work of Day Care Centres in the City of Madras. Exactly a year later on 31st May 1974 the Riber Memorial Trust was launched to provide scholarships for students of Social Work specialising in leprosy work.
On 12th June 1973 the following article appeared in The Madras Mail, written as a tribute by Thiru Rama Arangannal M.L.A., Chairman of the Tamilnadu Slum Clearance Board.
Rev H.N. Riber
‘The terrible disaster which occurred in the plane crash in Delhi has taken away many valuable lives. Among the notable personalities who died was Rev H.N. Riber who was a noble man. In the estates now built up by the Slum Clearance Board, all amenities including libraries, adult education services, medical facilities and children’s Day Care Centres are provided through the New Residents Welfare Trust. Once the Rev Riber had occasion to visit one of our estates. On seeing our efforts to change the mental outlook of slum-dwellers rehabilitated in the modern tenements, without the slightest hesitation, he gave a cheque for Rs.5,000 for the welfare activities. On another occasion when Day Care Centres were opened to look after the children of working women with Government aid in the Slum Board estates, he came forward to provide utensils and equipment to the Day Care Centres and gave more than Rs.7,000 for this purpose.
His interest in social welfare activities was boundless. He took keen interest in child welfare, family planning and leprosy work, and rendered valuable help to the Trust for the conduct of an exhibition at the Children’s Hospital in January 1973. A man of singular liberality and real kindness of heart, he will always be remembered as one who did much for the poor slum-dwellers in Madras City.’
Soon after this, whilst the children’s playground was still named after Major Chandrakant Jadhav, the Day Care Centre itself was named The Riber Memorial Day Care Centre. A copy of the photograph of ‘Ribe’ which had been in the Order for the Memorial Service was framed and it still hangs on the wall of the new Day Care Centre and Community Development Project building to this day.
Next month we will look back to the beginnings of the Village Project.
Murdoch MacKenzie
THE RIBER MEMORIAL DAY CARE CENTRE 3
THE REV HAROLD N RIBER
Murdoch MacKenzie
On 31st May 1973 an Indian Airlines Boeing flight from Madras crashed just outside Delhi in which 48 people lost their lives. They included the distinguished politician Kumaramangalam and Rev Harold N. Riber. ‘Ribe’ as he was affectionately known, was a Lutheran minister, working with the newly formed Inter Church Service Agency (ICSA) but who previously had worked in India for over 25 years, particularly among the Santal people in the north. He and I were working together in various projects across the city of Madras and with Mary, his wife, he had become a member of the Kirk and a member of the Kirk Session.
When he became a member of the Kirk Session, I remember saying to him that although he was on very many committees of one kind or another, he should not think of the Kirk Session as simply another committeee but as something different. Quick as a flash he replied: ‘No. This is the centre of things.’ For him there was no doubt where the centre lay. Whilst his compassion and his friendliness and his shrewd assessment reached out into many areas in Church and State, with Lutherans and the C.S.I. , in Tamil Nadu and in Bangla Desh, in Leprosy Rehabilitation and Population Education, to young students and to senior citizens, in the slums or in the Madras Club – wherever he was or wherever he went he had no doubt at all about the centre of things! Those who met him had no doubt either that here was a man, who without piety or pretentiousness, had a living and dynamic faith which was centred in the love of Jesus Christ.
At the Memorial Service on Sunday night 10th June 1973 the Kirk was packed to capacity as men and women from all walks of life in Madras, and from far beyond, came to pay their tributes. They included Stephen E. Palmer United States Consul General, Viji Srinivasan the Executive Officer of the New Residents Welfare Trust and Rev Munshi Tudu, President of the Santal Church. Rev Riber was described as a great American, as a man who had implicit trust in indigenous Indian leadership and as a person who was loved by everyone in the villages of Santalia from the youngest children to the most senior elders.
The Bible was read by Rev Dr W.P. Peery of the Lutheran Church in America and the sermon was preached by Rt Rev J.E.L. Newbigin, Bishop in Madras. The Bishop addressed the question as to why such terrible accidents happen and said they have to be understood as part of the error and imperfection of a world which is still being set free from its bondage and decay and in which we have to work for liberation, including that of the deprived and rejected for whom ‘Ribe’ gave his life. We do all this in the knowledge that Jesus continues to intercede for us and in the knowledge that we can be sure that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Mrs Mary Riber and her children came, all dressed in white, and a Thankoffering was taken for the work of Day Care Centres in the City of Madras. Exactly a year later on 31st May 1974 the Riber Memorial Trust was launched to provide scholarships for students of Social Work specialising in leprosy work.
On 12th June 1973 the following article appeared in The Madras Mail, written as a tribute by Thiru Rama Arangannal M.L.A., Chairman of the Tamilnadu Slum Clearance Board.
Rev H.N. Riber
‘The terrible disaster which occurred in the plane crash in Delhi has taken away many valuable lives. Among the notable personalities who died was Rev H.N. Riber who was a noble man. In the estates now built up by the Slum Clearance Board, all amenities including libraries, adult education services, medical facilities and children’s Day Care Centres are provided through the New Residents Welfare Trust. Once the Rev Riber had occasion to visit one of our estates. On seeing our efforts to change the mental outlook of slum-dwellers rehabilitated in the modern tenements, without the slightest hesitation, he gave a cheque for Rs.5,000 for the welfare activities. On another occasion when Day Care Centres were opened to look after the children of working women with Government aid in the Slum Board estates, he came forward to provide utensils and equipment to the Day Care Centres and gave more than Rs.7,000 for this purpose.
His interest in social welfare activities was boundless. He took keen interest in child welfare, family planning and leprosy work, and rendered valuable help to the Trust for the conduct of an exhibition at the Children’s Hospital in January 1973. A man of singular liberality and real kindness of heart, he will always be remembered as one who did much for the poor slum-dwellers in Madras City.’
Soon after this, whilst the children’s playground was still named after Major Chandrakant Jadhav, the Day Care Centre itself was named The Riber Memorial Day Care Centre. A copy of the photograph of ‘Ribe’ which had been in the Order for the Memorial Service was framed and it still hangs on the wall of the new Day Care Centre and Community Development Project building to this day.
Next month we will look back to the beginnings of the Village Project.
Murdoch MacKenzie