A perpetual thankfulness, with a heartfelt gratefulness

We should just be thankful for being together. I think that’s what they mean by Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown. — Marcie, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

It's almost incomprehensible how quickly we have arrived at the Thanksgiving season this year. 2024 has zoomed passed us, almost at supersonic speed. For some of us, Thanksgiving is all about the turkey and ham. For others, it could be the game in the evening, but for almost everyone, it will be about getting together with friends and family.

As for us, 2024 created a lot of memories for the Malcolm family. Many of you know, one of the most prominent events this year was our trip to India, particularly to Naidupet in July. Our introductory visit was filled with so many sentiments, emotions, and reactions. The whole trip was an awakening of sorts.

The memorable sights and sounds of the Naidupet encampment remain vivid, and I hope the dust, the smells, and the overall encounter will stay with us forever. Amongst the many things that were memorable, one thing particularly stands out – their smiles. These precious people have absolutely nothing to live off or for, but they had the biggest smiles. And it was wholehearted, it was sincere, and it seemed like they were happy, even if it was for that moment.

▲ The precious Yenadi children.

There was another poignant moment during the trip that will forever stay in my memories. We went on a trip 40 miles east of Guntur to a city called Bapatla with Ravi and Kishore to see the work that has been established over the past 20 years by Society For Integrated Rural Development (SFIRD).

This village used to be on the shores of the Bay of Bengal. However, the great 2004 tsunami that hit a good portion of South East Asia and South Asia had other plans. It resulted in the destruction of the village, loss of livelihood, loss of loved ones, and even whole families. SFIRD helped rebuild their village by building them homes, establishing schools, boring wells, and creating jobs in order to give them back their livelihood.

As we were walking through the village, we stopped by one of the houses. We were invited in with open arms, smiles and friendly faces. We talked about how they had braved life after the 2004 tsunami; their stories made you stop and catch your breath — the resilience of the people was extraordinary, to say the least.

In the midst of this, the lady of the house invited us to stay for a meal that she would freshly prepare. It felt wrong because this would mean using supplies for a single meal that could last them for several days. It was an honor and a privilege to have that invitation extended to us, and yet at the same time it was humbling to realize that they would give of their very own finite resources. We ended up not being able to stay as we had to catch a flight to Chennai. But the bigness of their hearts and the "immediateness" of wanting to cook and share a meal, will definitely remain with us, not just as a sentiment, but also as a life lesson.

▲ These are the resilient people of Bapatla. On the right, are Kishore and Ravi, two of the core members of SFIRD. The lady in the foreground with the yellow and green saree and her husband were the ones that wanted to share a meal with the six of us.

The trip was also filled with some other high points, which definitely included meeting Ravi and the staff at SFIRD and making new friends from Vijayawada. On the whole our hearts were brimming with gratefulness, and a great deal of thanks for all that had transpired on this trip.

On the home front, we are especially thankful for people like you who are supporting this work and coming along the journey with Restoration Humanity. It is an enormous privilege to be able to work with the Yenadis, even though the task seems insurmountable. Someone said that the "largest of doors open and close on the smallest of hinges" and likewise, we hope to do little things that would add up to opening big doors for the future and the children's future of the Yenadi people.

I hope this Thanksgiving, we have a great time enjoying the turkey and the ham. But, more than anything, that we would cherish family and friends, and the time spent with each other.

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, — yes, it might be a little early for Christmas — I would like to leave you with a portion of a song, "God Bless You!" that good old Bing (Crosby) wrote:

Christmas is a-coming and the cider's in the keg

If I had a mug of cider, then I wouldn't have to beg

If you haven't got a mug of cider, half a mug will do

If you haven't got a half a mug, may God bless you

God bless you, gentlemen, God bless you

If you haven't got a half a mug, may God bless you

If you haven't got a thing for me, may God bless you

Thank you for being a part of this inspiring journey!

If you would like to know more: more.info@rhlife.org

To donate to Restoration Humanity: www.rhlife.org/donate