A few thoughts on Suji's pending journey, journeys I have taken and how a young woman from Nigeria brought into my life by cats is now ready to help - set against the shadows of my morning walk

And what of the dangers? They are real - from the dangers of malaria

Click to read more ...

Sujitha's own words on why she has volunteered to work at the children's home in Kenya, coupled with images of Kalib and Jobe

Suji's own words:

Dearest Friends,

I pray this email reaches as many

Click to read more ...

In honor of her sister, Soundarya, Sujitha has been accepted as a volunteer at a children's home in Kenya; she needs help to get there: full story to follow shortly

Sujitha, my niece from Bangalore, India, whose wedding I took readers to in March, has been accepted as a volunteer at the Nyumbani Children's Home in Kenya. She applied in honor of her late sister, Soundarya, who by her nature always sought to help others in need, be they humans or animals and had a dream of one day creating a home for elders.

I have promised Sujitha to do what I can to help her raise the funds she will need to travel to Kenya and to pay for her room and board for the six weeks she will spend at the home, created and run by Jesuits to care for orphans who lost their parents to HIV/AIDS and later expanded to also care for elderly survivors of AIDS victims. One thing I can do is to put a "donate" button on this blog.

I promised Sujitha I would put up a post and button by today, Thursday, October 24. I am posting this just after midnight, but after I get some sleep and before the day is over, I will make a better post and I will customize the donate button and put it at the top of the right hand column, where it will stay until Suji has the funds she needs to carry our her mission.

In the meantime, anyone who would care to help can click the button below and contribute. It doesn't matter if the contribution is large or small - Sujitha will appreciate it and so will I.

I took the above photo of Sujitha (left) and Soundarya at Soundarya's wedding to the late Anil Kumar in Bangalore, May 9, 2009.

More later today.