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

Just before I went to bed early this morning, I made the previous post inviting readers to help support Niece Sujitha in her dream to honor her late sister and my late muse, Soundarya, by going to Kenya to do volunteer work at a home for AIDS orphans. It was an abbreviated post, but I said I would make a follow up later in the day to better tell the story.

Well, it has been a crazy day, in part because of these two. Perhaps the very craziest part came when I saw that Margie was frazzled, and so volunteered to take the kids out to McDonald's and give her a chance to rest. She agreed, then decided to come, too. Afterwards, she wanted to do a bit of grocery shopping. I have a picture of the madness that resulted, and will share it later.

I did, in fact, set up the visuals for my planned post on Sujitha, but I can see now it would still take me at least a couple of more hours to tell the story as I wanted to tell it, and to make the custom Paypal button for the right column.

Part of my telling it was going to include a link to the Facebook page Suji created in support of her humanitarian venture:

http://www.facebook.com/SaveMyChildren

If you scroll down to September 11, you will find Suji's reasons stated in her own words, which I will paste in between these pictures of Kalib and Jobe, who Suji loves, even though she had yet to meet them in person. She has met them on Skype. First, I am pleased to note that my first appeal has brought in some contributions and it looks like something pretty good is pending. Tomorrow, I still plan to put up the post I was going to make today, along with the customized button for the right column. On her page and in her piece, Suji does have the information for anyone who would prefer to donate by bank transfer, but as so many people like the ease and convenience of Paypal, I am putting yesterday's button in again today.

Suji's own words:

Dearest Friends,

I pray this email reaches as many as possible and I hope each one of you will take an action: either to donate or forward this to your family and friends. 

For everybody who knows me, you will easily get why I am doing this. For others - just trust the person who has forwarded this to you. He/she is definitely my friend and knows me well.  

Past: I have always been emotional and since my childhood I remember giving alms to everyone on the street. Maybe I picked this up from my sister who would have learned it from my mum. I remember not taking change from vegetable vendors on the street because I felt deeply for their poverty. When my Doctor aunt started living with us, I used to visit her clinic every evening and was deeply moved by her nature – how she helped her patients who could not afford to give her a mere 5 or 10 rupees. This was in the early 90's. 

Present: Things changed when I started my college and never took part in any volunteer services. My sister, on the other hand, devoted her life to helping others. She worked with many NGO's and her dream was to build an old age home. Then the accident happened. I lost my sister and brother-in-law. Then things changed even more. I started looking at her work and understood that it went deeper even than I had realized - she touched people’s lives in many different ways. She was born to serve – not only people, but creatures big and small. So many times she stopped to pick up cats and dogs hit by cars or trucks on the busy streets of Bangalore. She even broke taboo to rescue an electrocuted crow! This is how my sister was and if she were still alive I am sure she would be caring for a cat or dog she had recently rescued even now, at the very moment I type this. 

Future: The time has now come for me to help make my sister’s dreams come true. I am motivated – more so than I have ever been before. I am honored to announce that I have been accepted into a volunteer program at the Nyumbani Children's Home in Kenya. Please have a look at their website here:

 http://www.nyumbani.org

This is where my heart belongs. This is what I want to do. As my sister always did, I want to help others. 

I am currently raising funds to get me to Kenya and to help support the work I will be involved in at the children’s home. My sincere request to all of you is to please share this with your friends you trust. I have been asked to come down in early November* or anytime I am ready. I am ready now.  (New target date: April).

I know many of you are already doing things elsewhere and this might come as an unexpected expense. But please do spare whatever you can from your savings and transfer it to my account details below. A generous contribution of even 1000Rs will help greatly – about $18.00, but why not round it out to $20?

Below are some details I have taken from the website to help you understand the expenses we need for the future of Nyumbani children:  

As you might imagine, meeting the medical, educational and daily living needs of each child requires significant financial resources.  Each month it costs approximately $11,000 for general maintenance including salaries to operate the children’s home. Within the Nyumbani community, here are some of our monthly expenses:

• General costs to cover basic needs (e.g., food, shelter, clothing) are  $250 per month for each child

• Medical attention for each child (e.g., general check ups, lab work, immunizations, sick visits) is  $30 per month for each child

• Medication, excluding ARV medications is $50 per month for each child 

• Educational needs (e.g., public school fees, books, uniforms) are approximately $99 per month for each child in Secondary School and $ 20 per month per child in Primary School.

• Cottage expenses (e.g., school supplies, cleaning materials, staff support) are approximately $225 per month 

If you do an online transfer, please do leave me a name and note so I know whom to thank later on - or post me in FB. I am going to actively forward this details to every single friend in gmail and fb, to ensure this message reaches many.

People donating from India, please use the below details: 

Account Name : Sujitha Ravichandran

 Bank : ICICI Bank , Chennai Santhome Branch

Account Number : 021201543655 

People donating from UK/US/Others, please use the details below:

Account Name : Sujitha Ravichandran 

Bank : HSBC 

Account Number : 

Sort Code : 

Once you have done this, rest assured that you have brought a smile to a kid’s face and touched his and her life in your own way, whereever you are , whoever you are.  You will make a difference. 

Thank You, 

Suji

Now, back to the home front: Just a little bit ago, Jacob, Lavina and Lynx skyped in from Reno, especially to see Kalib and Jobe.

Jobe ended the Skype conversation with a kiss for Mom, then for Dad and lastly for Lynx.

To donate to help Sujitha get to Kenya: