Henry Fernandes: The Former Vice President of Belle Parish Pastoral Council

By Dr. Eugene DSouza, Moodubelle
Bellevision Media Network

Moodubelle, 05 March 2011: While formally transferring his responsibilities as the outgoing vice president of the Belle Parish Pastoral Council to the newly elected vice president, Alphonse K. Alva, Henry Fernandes who had served the parish community for two terms from 2004 to 2011 had a sense of great satisfaction and fulfilment.  His contentment and a feeling of achievement came from the fact that he had sincerely carried on the responsibilities associated with the post and during his tenure some of the landmark  celebrations such as the inauguration of the new church building, the Silver Jubilee of St. Lawrence PU College, the Golden Jubilee of St. Lawrence High School and the Centenary of the Belle Parish had taken place.  This profile of Henry Fernandes not only highlights his achievements as the vice president of the Parish Pastoral Council of Belle, but also his service in various spheres.

 

 

Henry Fernandes, born on 01 June 1955 is the eldest son among three children, two younger ones being daughters, of Albert and Carmine Fernandes residing at Padubettu.  He had his primary and higher primary education at the Padubettu School up to  seventh standard and   acquired secondary school education at St. Lawrence High School, Moodubelle completing SSLC in 1972.

 

 
Albert Fernandes & Carmine Fernandes

 

Being born as the eldest in a family with agricultural background, Henry had to help his parents in cultivating the land which he did for four years up to 1976. However, he gradually realised   that if he continued to remain in his native village pursuing agriculture as a career he would not be able to have a secured future for himself and his family as the income from agriculture was quite meagre. It was a period when a number of youngsters from Belle, after completing their education up to SSLC, had been moving either to Mumbai or the Gulf countries to seek employment and better opportunities while few continued higher education.

 

With a dream of making it big in the city of opportunities, in 1976, Henry packed his bag and proceeded to Mumbai and secured a job in the prestigious Taj Mahal Hotel near the Gateway of India where he worked for a year staying at St. Lawrence Club at Nagpada. Meanwhile, Henry was looking for an opportunity to migrate to one of the Gulf countries where he could get better salary.

 

 

The efforts of Henry to migrate to the Middle East bore fruit when a recruiting  agent who had been a regular customer at the Taj Mahal Hotel observing the work of Henry for some days was so impressed that he offered him a job in the hotel  industry in Saudi Arabia. Henry grabbed this opportunity and went to Saudi Arabia where he spent 23 years, working first six years in Al Kadi Hotel and later for 17 years in the Gulf Meridian Hotel at Alkhobar where he was managing a gift shop within the hotel.

 

Having  worked for a long time  in Saudi Arabia, Henry felt that he had earned enough and he should spend time with his  parents and family and decided to return for good to his native village and bid good bye to his friends and colleagues in the Gulf Meridian Hotel and came back home in 2000.

 

 

After returning home and his native village, Henry did not believe in spending his time in leisure and pleasure. He wanted to make good use of the experience and money that he had earned with great difficulty and sacrifices by investing in a business that would not only keep him busy but also earn profit so that he could maintain his family.  With this aim, Henry started a gift and novelty shop named ‘Big Apple’ in the Mythri Commercial Complex at Udupi. Meanwhile, he also ventured in constructing residential accommodations at Dendoorkatte where mostly families of those who were working in the Gulf resided on rental basis. At the same time, Henry continued assisting his father in the traditional family agriculture and growing vegetables and fruits.

 

 

In spite of the family responsibilities and managing his gift and novelty business at Udupi, Henry realised the need to serve his parish and village communities in whatever capacity he could by involving himself in social service activities. Soon after his return from Saudi Arabia, Henry inherited the post of the Gurkar of the Fatima Ward from his father, Albert Fernandes who had been the Gurkar of that ward for over 25 years.

 

Henry proved himself to be an effective and active Gurkar of the Fatima Ward and served the ward for 11 years from 2000 to 2011. He was respected and appreciated by his ward members for his leadership qualities and selfless and dedicated service to the community. Being the member of the Parish Pastoral Council of St. Lawrence Church, Belle, Henry was elected as the member of the Parish Finance Committee from 2000-2003.

 

 

Realising the ability and sincerity of Henry, he was elected as the Vice President of the Parish Pastoral Council in 2004, the post which he continued to hold for two full terms till 2011. During his tenure as the vice president, Henry had the unique opportunity of being an integral part of landmark celebrations of the parish and the educational institutions. The inauguration and blessing of the new church building in the first week of January 2006; Inauguration of the new building of St. Lawrence English Medium School in 2006; Silver Jubilee of St. Lawrence PU College in 2006; Seventy-fifth birth anniversary of Rev. Dr. Valerian D’Souza, the then parish priest in October 2007; the inauguration of the new church bell in 2008; the Golden Jubilee of St. Lawrence High School during the last week of December 2009; the Centenary celebration of the establishment of St. Lawrence Parish, Belle from January 2010 to January 2011 and the fiftieth birth anniversary of Fr. Paul Sequeira.

 

Fr. Joswey Fernandes, the parish priest of Belle is highly appreciative of the contribution of Henry Fernandes as the vice president of the Parish Pastoral Council both to the parish and the educational institutions.  Fr, Joswey said that Henry  would always volunteer to do any kind of work that was required to be done such as bringing certain articles or things needed in the church or schools from Udupi or other places. He has great leadership qualities and cooperative spirit which he manifested in teamwork during the various functions that has been organised during the jubilees and centenary celebrations. He had sponsored a number of programmes in the parish and schools.  It is said that Henry Fernandes donated the large crucifix on the main altar of the church on the occasion of his Wedding Silver Jubilee.

 

Speaking about the contribution of Henry Fernandes as the vice president of the Parish Pastoral Council during the Silver Jubilee of St. Lawrence PU College in 2006 and the Golden Jubilee of St. Lawrence High School in 2009, Fr. Paul Sequeira, principal of St. Lawrence Composite PU College pointed out that Henry worked very closely with him in all the developmental projects that were undertaken during these jubilee celebrations. Henry took initiative to contact engineers,  to mobilize the workers and procure the necessary materials for these projects. Whenever his presence was required, Henry would make himself available in the school-college campus in spite of him being busy with his own business and other social commitments.  Henry had even accompanied Fr. Paul to Mumbai and Bangalore in 2006 to raise funds for the Silver Jubilee celebrations of St. Lawrence PU College. Further, Fr. Paul said that Henry Fernandes could provide his service to the educational institutions more effectively as he could understand the atmosphere, requirements and expectations of these educational institutions.  Fr. Paul greatly appreciates the enthusiasm, dedication, sincerity and humility of Henry Fernandes.

 

 

As part of the centenary celebration of the foundation of the Belle parish, when Fr. Joswey Fernandes initiated the programme of the Journey of St. Lawrence through all the wards of the parish, as the Gurkar and Vice President of the Parish Pastoral Council, Henry Fernandes volunteered to take the statue of the saint first to his own Fatima Ward in a grand procession, the statue mounted on a decorated van and band playing the music. Even later, when the statue of St. Lawrence was taken to other wards, Henry made it a point to attend the ward feasts in all the wards except one or two.

 

After successfully completing two terms as the vice president of the Parish Pastoral Council, Henry Fernandes formally transferred his responsibilities to his successor, Alphonse K. Alva on Sunday, 27th February 2011.

 

Henry Fernandes did not confine himself to parish activities alone. He was keen to serve his village community by entering the political arena and contesting the village panchayat elections which he won in 2000 as a member of the Kodibettu Grama Panchayat. He was also elected for a second term and continued up to 2010.  Henry was the vice president of the Kodibettu Village Panchayat for one term from 2005 to 2007. As the member of the village panchayat, Henry Fernandes worked hard to get basic amenities to his village, especially in improving and ‘damarizing’ the roads and laying new ones.

 

Under the ‘Clean Village’ programme of the state government, the Kodibettu village panchayat collected the mandatory one lakh rupees so as to get a grant of 19 lakhs of rupees from the state government. With this amount, the village panchayat ‘damarized’ the roads connecting Padubettu, Pernankila and Vorwadi and fifty toilets were provided to those villagers who came under the ‘Below Poverty Line’ (BPL) category.

 

The activities of Henry Fernandes have been extended in other areas as well. Presently, he is the president of Padubettu Higher Primary School’s Ex-Students’  Association, vice president of Sai Radha Apartment Owners’ Association, honorary president of  K.K. Yuvaka Mandala and president of Pernankila Milk Producers’ Association. Under his presidentship, the Dakshina Kannada Milk Producers’ Society’s dairy building is under construction at Aangarakatte near Pernankila.

 

 

Henry Fernandes joined the Lions Club of Moodubelle on 1 October 2000 and has been one of the most active members of the Lions Club movement. He became the president of the Lions Club of Moodubelle for a term of two years, secretary twice and once treasurer. According to Commodore Jerome Castelino, the charter president of the Lions Club of Moodubelle, the involvement of Henry Fernandes in the Lions Club activities, his commitment and dedication was total and complete. He was adjudged as the best president, best secretary and best treasurer by the Lions Club International. After Commodore Jerome Castelino, Henry Fernandes is the second Lion member from the Lions Club of Moodubelle to receive such awards. He was also the secretary, Region Conference Committee in 2010 when the Lions Club of Moodubelle had the privilege and honour of hosting regional conference.

 

When the Lions Bhavan was being built in 2002 and expanded in 2008, Henry Fernandes was closely associated with all the activities concerned with the construction and expansion of the building.

 

 

In 2003, Henry Fernandes along with Commodore Jerome Castelino was called upon by former Vice Chancellor of MAHE and former District Governor, Dr. B.M. Hegde to undertake construction of 120 toilets to families Below the Poverty Line (BPL) in villages of Kudi, Anjar, Marne and Pernankila at a total cost of 6 lakhs of rupees. Henry Fernandes working in close association with Commodore Jerome Castelino completed this task within a record period of six months and his services were highly appreciated by Dr. B.M. Hegde.

 

 

Henry Fernandes married Irene Mary D’Souza from Belman in 1981. Irene has been helping Henry in all his business and social activities. They are blessed with two children. Eldest daughter, Raina has studied up to BSc and also has B.Ed. degree. She is married to Manoj D’Souza of Mudarangadi and they have a son-Cleon Reev. Presently, Raina lives in Dubai along with Manoj and Cleon. Rakesh, son of Henry and Irene, after acquiring B.Com and MBA degrees is presently working in Muscat.

 

 

Looking back to his tenure as the vice president, Henry said that he was fortunate to work under the guidance of two eminent parish priests-Rev. Dr. Valerian D’Souza, Fr. Joswey Fernandes and Fr. Paul Sequeira, principal of St. Lawrence Composite PU College  for their guidance and confidence that they had reposed in him. He further said that he worked sincerely in fulfilling all the responsibilities that were bestowed on him as the vice president and he was very fortunate to serve the parish community which gave him immense satisfaction.

 

Though his tenure has ended as the vice president has come to an end, he would be always available for any work associated with the church or the educational institutions. He gratefully remembered the support and advice given to him by Commodore Jerome Castelino and Raphael Aranha when he was undergoing a period of  crisis due to certain controversy. He greatly appreciated the cooperation extended to him as the vice president of the Parish Pastoral Council by the then secretary, Mrs. Meera Lob and all the members of the Parish Pastoral Council and finally all the parishioners who rendered support and cooperation during his tenure as the vice president of the Parish Pastoral Council.