I'm walking down a dusty road in Addis, with my baby strapped to my chest, my 3 year old holding my hand, and my 13 year old loaded with packages from our successful shopping venture, when I spot the girl trudging along on the edge of the road next to us, and as I look curiously at her, taking in her tattered but neat clothes and wondering about her life, she looks at me and gives me a little smile, not missing a stride in her walking, and she is walking a little faster than us and as she begins to pass us, I see she's wearing a pair of pancake-thin flip flops, so worn out that as her heels lifts with each step I can see the holes worn clear through the cheap foam of each shoe, and I realize that her heel is actually in contact with the ground as she walks on energetically, with head held high, and I think of my children and the two pairs each of shoes that I packed them for this trip, and the two more pairs of shoes I just bought each of them today while shopping, and suddenly I want very much to give this girl some money, but there was something about the lift of her chin when her eyes met mine a minute ago that gives me pause, makes me think she would be insulted if I offered her money, because unlike others I've seen, she is NOT begging, not asking for anything, just living her life, going steadily with purpose wherever it is she is going, and as we plod along loaded with things in plastic bags that dig into our hands, things we didn't really need, things that probably cost more money than this lean purposeful girl's family sees in 3 months, she pulls further and further ahead of us, and I don't think until she is far past me that what I should have done was just take her by the hand and walk her across the street to that little shop we just passed and buy her a pair of shoes.