Thanksgiving Dinner at the Taj Hotel, Varanasi, India.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, on our first day in India, we are giving thanks for our safe journey and for this once in a lifetime opportunity to travel and see so many other countries. We are also thankful on this holiday for our family and friends whose loving kindness and support have filled our hearts. We celebrated by having a vegetarian Indian dinner at the Taj Hotel in Varanasi (pictured).

We owe a special thanks to our friend, Michael Bourne, who has spent countless hours helping us prepare for our trip to India, and for providing us with the opportunity to volunteer with his project for impoverished children. He has opened the door to India and to meeting key individuals working towards a better life for these children, including a special school for disabled children. In addition to sharing with us his vast knowledge of India, the culture and practical information, he has arranged for personal guides and even a driver for us. He also gave us $300 to spend on any items we think are necessary and beneficial to the children and the school.

The young girls often need undergarments and some children may need medical care. Also, sometimes money is needed for repairs to the school building, such as the roof. Although Michael said he has many ideas on how this money can be used, he wants us to follow our own intuition. We will spend this next week at the school in Bodhgaya, and one additional day visiting the “differently able” children’s school in the Kiran Village. We are not sure yet how much assistance we will offer, but we will be able to spend time with the children, and hopefully find out how they are doing in school and if their basic needs are being met. We feel fortunate to be able to work with this project, and we hope we can find some way to be of help.

Thank you for all the wonderful e-mails we have received – we cherish these words of good wishes during our travels and love hearing about your lives too!