The umbrella

   When we visited the shanty settlement on Cashew Road last week I accidentally walked away with one of the residents umbrella's It was the poor lady with HIV with the little child. She had lived in the wretched place for the last six years.
   It was raining that day and she gave us an umbrella to use. When we left, I, having no idea that it wasn't ours, walked back to the car with it. Afterwards everybody remembered it was hers and begin to laugh and joke about my apparent theivery. Mom Haag joked that she was going to write and tell my Mother that her son stole an umbrella from the poorest of the poor.
   A few days later when we went to visit the orphans I decided to return the umbrella. Pastor Lionell was with me and we walked up the road to the shack. The lady was standing in the doorway. I asked her if she remembered me, and reluctantly she admitted that she did. I know she was wondering why I had come back, and at that moment I was even more thankful Pastor Lionell was with me. I handed back the umbrella and gave her 50 rands (4 dollars) and told her that was a gift from my wife and I. She seemed so thankful.
   These people are struggling everday to survive. Unemployment in the shanty town was over 90%. How can they get a job? Who would hire someone who never gets a shower or has clothes that are clean. Wow. This experience makes me ever more thankful for the things I daily take for granted, and make me realize how much more I could do to help.