With every horrible thing happening in the world today such as wars, mass shootings in the U.S., and just everyday events, it is sometimes easy to forget those poorest among us who are usually the ones who are most affected by catastrophes.

Chennai, a city in Tamil Nadu, India, is the home town of my father and an important part of my childhood.  The city has been devastated by floods recently and approximately 200 people have perished in the floods with the death toll likely to rise.  These past days I have been thinking about my many family members who are there during this difficult time.

The people of Chennai are a wonderful, generous, and strong group of people, and I hope that they can recover from this.  I’ll try to help with whatever I can give, but I am also hoping to make a long awaited trip to Chennai sometime next year.  My last visit to India was over five years ago, and Chennai has and will remain to be my favorite place to visit in India.

Just as the people of Chennai reacted with kindness and generosity after the 2004 tsunami (as evidenced by the picture above of a kind gentleman feeding a stray dog), they will once again arise from these devastating events– but not without our help.