The recent issue of PaperTigers focuses on the power of children to change the world. As I read it, I thought of a book my sister gave me called The Umbrella Girl. My sister works for The Leprosy Mission, an organization dedicated to treating leprosy victims and assisting those who suffer from its after effects. The Umbrella Girl is the story of Mali. Mali lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand. While still young, she is struck down with leprosy and can no longer help with the family business of making umbrellas. What will Mali do? Where will she go? How can she help the family when she is becoming sick?
The Umbrella Girl recounts the plight of many children in the world who are struck down by disease. Innocent and vulnerable, often without access to medical care, they have little recourse in life to alter their circumstances. Their mere survival is itself heroic. In Mali’s case, The Leprosy Mission diagnosed and treated the disease. After spending time in hospital, Mali returned home and according to reports from my sister who visited Chiang Mai recently, is now a healthy young woman. Books like The Umbrella Girl are of two-fold purpose — to make children aware of the plight of other less fortunate children, and to enable them to make a difference to children like Mali by praying for them and/or by donating to these organizations. The Umbrella Girl fell into my hands when my son needed a cause for which to be a ’superhero’ for his class’ SuperHeroes project. In reading The Umbrella Girl, he came to know more about leprosy and the people it affects, and was able to transmit this information to his class.
The Umbrella Girl can be obtained by requesting it from The Leprosy Mission or the story can be found here in PDF format.