Karim David—died 8th December 2009

It is with great regret & much sadness that I have to report the death of our great friend Karim David on the 8th December 2009 in a hospital in Nagpur after a short illness followed by heart attack.

Karim devoted his entire life to the care and welfare of the very poor living in and around the city of Nagpur in Central India.

Born into a wealthy Muslim Indian family in Tamil Nadu, he was educated in a Christian school where he came under the influence of Bishop Newbiggin, leading to him becoming a Christian. His family then totally rejected him and Bishop Newbiggin found him work in Nagpur, where he was to spend the rest of his life.

Jean and I first met him in November 1988 when he was in charge of the Industrial Services Institute (ISI), a Christian organisation in Nagpur. We were visiting Nagpur at the request of the Allestree Group of Churches (Derbyshire). Although we were only there for 36 hours it was 36 hours that changed my life. I was deeply impressed with this quiet, humble, man of God who had a heart overflowing with love for the poor and marginalised people living in and around the city of Nagpur.

Following that visit both Jean and I were determined to return and this we did in 1990 where we stayed in the village of Nagazari and in Karim's house for two weeks. I then took early retirement from my work at the end of 1991 and was free to devote much more time to Nagpur. We realised that the best way we could help, in the long term, was to set up a charity and thus Phoenix-India was born in 1994.

Karim started the "Driver is the Owner Scheme" for the poor rickshaw pullers in Nagpur & provided 5000 rickshaws to them with the help of the Banks. He also started the Landless Peoples' demands for land rights & the "home for the destitute women & children".

He retired from the ISI when he was 65 and started working full-time on his charity the Comprehensive Rural Tribal Develop-ment Programme (CRTDP). Over the next 20 years he developed his work amongst the villages and also took on his ISI Staff member, Vimal Jadhav and later, her ISI co-worker Mr Pillai. Soon their work had spread to several of the large slums in Nagpur and in 2000 we were able to open a new training centre for destitute children called Barbara's Multipurpose Polytechnic. By 2009 Karim's organisation was supporting up to 15,000 village people, 30,000 slum dwellers and, after 10 years of training destitute children at BMPT some 3000 ex-students had got a job and were on the first rung of the ladder of self-sufficiency.

He had received many awards from the Indian & German Agencies for his contribution to Watershed Development work & as the best Social Worker, by the Govt. of Maharashtra for bringing about the great change in the lives of the people of Seshnagar Pardhi Tribal Village.

He continued as Secretary/General Manager of CRTDP until 26 November 2009 (the day I left Nagpur).

He worked tirelessly for the poor six and a half days a week and never took holidays. He was known by many people in India as a good man and one who was entirely incorruptible.

He will be extremely difficult to replace but we know his son Iqbal, supported by Vimal and the staff Karim leaves behind, will carry on his vital work

His wife is now very frail and bed ridden and he has a son, Iqbal and 3 grandchildren. We ask for your prayers for his family and for his staff at CRTDP, particularly Vimal, the Programmes Director and Rani, the Treasurer.

He will also be sadly missed by all at Phoenix-India..

    During July this year (2009) we were privileged to welcome the Bishop of Nagpur to Allestree prior to the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury.

A very busy programme was arranged for all the bishops from the Church of North India (CNI) visiting Derbyshire together with the Bishop of Baltimore USA. The programme included meeting people from Derbyshire Churches of all denominations, sightseeing, church services, meals and a study day.

Some of the Nagpur Link Committee met at the home of Margaret Cresswell for a bring and share supper. This occasion gave us an opportunity to get to know Bishop Paul and his wife and hear news about his two teenage sons. Paul comes from a Buddhist background and Shalu’s family are Baptist Christians. We explained how we raised money for CNI/ SSI (Social Services Institute) through Lent Lunches, donations and other events and also remarked on how these events bring together people of all the churches in Allestree Churches Together (ACT).

The following day Bishop Paul and Shalu met some more ACT people at Allestree Methodist Church’s Coffee Morning. During this time, Ann Ford’s two nieces from Australia joined us and were interested to find out more about Nagpur Link to which donations in Ann’s memory were given following her funeral. We were grateful to Allestree Methodists for putting on this event on the same day as their garden party.

After lunch we went to the Bishop of Derby’s house in Duffield for tea with all the bishops, their wives and hosts. The tea was delicious and all of us listened to a madrigal choir brought together for the occasion. It was a pity the sun stayed behind the clouds causing our visitors to feel very cold.

Thankfully Sunday brought better weather for lunch in Hulland Millennium Hall provided by the Ashbourne/Patna Link churches. Songs of Praise at Carsington Water was a joyful occasion well attended by churches from around the county with a brass band and music group to accompany the singing. The importance of partnership in all aspects of the Church’s life was emphasised by the Bishop of Derby in his address.

On Monday night at Broadway Baptist Church a reception was held for Bishop Paul and Bishop Samson Das from Cuttack. We heard about the projects in Nagpur diocese that we support and work done in Cuttack among the poor.  Particularly we heard about the work with children in hostels run by CNI. Paul was able to tell us how he himself benefitted from being in one of these homes and being given education there. Many of the girls and boys go back to their villages and share what they have learned, especially health and hygiene issues. Bishop Paul told us how during his time at the hostel he became a Christian not through direct evangelism but by the example of love shown to him by the workers from CNI. He went on to Bible College, then into the pastoral ministry and now the episcopal ministry for the past three years.

Bishop Samson told us about the persecution of Christians in Cuttack during the Christmas period 2007. The CNI had to petition their government to take action against this destructive unrest and violence towards people, Christian businesses, and homes in that area of Orissa This last meeting gave us a better understanding of the difficulties faced by our brothers and sisters in India. An offering was taken up for the work of both dioceses and given directly to each bishop to use as he thought fit.

More photographs

We must continue to pray in our churches for these friends of ours in the CNI.