The Story of Palesa

I met Palesa about 2 weeks ago at Queen 2. She was just sitting in a crib in next to the nurse’s desk at the entrance to the children’s ward. She was all smiles. I later learned that she had been abandoned at the hospital in May. Her mother brought Palesa to the emergency room claiming that something was wrong with her leg, then the mother disappeared. Two months later, mom was found and is now in prison for 18 months for abandonment. Palesa spent that time sitting in her crib, they never found anything wrong with her. She is almost 19 months old and she can sit by herself and just started to roll in the last couple weeks. She is very smart though. She waves, nods yes, and babbles continually. I am sure that her physical delays are due largely in part to the fact that she has been in a crib for almost 10 weeks.

One Monday night I was brining supper to someone from Beautiful Gate who is at Queen 2 with a BG baby and I discovered Palesa had gotten a hold of one of the nurse’s supper and had it all over her and her bedding. She had been sitting in the food mess for quite some time. It took me quite a while to get anyone to direct me to clean bedding for her but eventually I found a sheet for her bed. I cleaned her up the best I could with what I had and sat for a good 20 minutes contemplating just taking her home with me. I truly don’t know how long it would have taken for anyone to notice her gone. Instead, I put her, in her filthy clothes, back into the crib and kissed her good night. The next day I went back with soap, towel, lotion and diapers. When I walked to her crib she was all smiles. I scooped her up and a nurse shoved a coffee cup full or porridge at me and walked away-so first breakfast, then a bath and a lot of cuddle time. It was then I began to wonder if they would let me care for Palesa in my home. A completely insane idea in America I know, but this is definitely not America. Wednesday of that week I decided to talk to the head nurse and I was truly hoping that she would say no, not because I didn’t want the opportunity to love on this babe for a couple weeks, but because I so badly wanted to believe that someone here cared. When I met with her, I was armed with my passport, driver’s license, and all our contact information. She never even asked my name. I explained that I wanted to care for Palesa in my home until other arrangements could be made and she said “Very good, come Friday.” So Friday morning I walked into the Children’s ward and back out again with that beautiful and precious baby. She stayed with us for the weekend. She never cried once and we loved having her.

Before I left on Friday, I had told the head of the ward that I would check back in each day. I just felt that there needed to be some accountability. Monday morning when I went to the hospital they told me that Palesa’s grandmother was going to come that day to “see if she liked her”. If she did, she would have the legal rights to take her that day. My heart stopped. Where had she been the past two months that Palesa had been sitting in hospital? I pulled myself together, dressed her in her cutest clothes and I stayed with her until holding back the tears was not possible any longer, and placed her in her crib and once again, walked away from this little angel. Later that afternoon, I returned to see if she was still there. When I entered the ward, she was sound asleep in her crib. Her grandmother had come later in the morning and was not sure if she was coming back. “Maybe tomorrow” they told me. I could have taken her home again, but I couldn’t stand the thought of having to bring her back again the next day wondering if I would see her again. After only three days with her, it was such a deep hurt to leave her.

When I awoke Tuesday, I knew what I needed to do; I returned first thing to the hospital-another bath, breakfast and a bottle. We had a great couple hours together. I brought another very cute outfit for her-several shirts, tights and socks. I wanted her to have as many articles of clothing on as I could pack her into as I was sure that her grandmother would not have much to dress her in. Tuesday was a long day of waiting and wondering. About 5 that evening I returned to see if she was still there. She was and with her in her crib were two cockroaches eating what was left of the cheese curls and other food that had been put in her crib for her to eat through out the day. I grabbed her and told the nurse that I would be back in the morning. She ate a great supper that night, had another bath and was loved on for hours. She fell asleep in bed with Hannah. Wednesday morning was the same routine of layers of clothes, and pancakes for breakfast. I brought her back again and the waiting began. That night Traig was very late, almost 6 o’clock before he got home, so I was not able to go back to the hospital as it is dangerous for me to be there after dark. Thursday morning when I got to the hospital, her crib was gone. One of the nurses came right to me and said that her grandma had come Wednesday morning for her. I left knowing that I had to keep it together, the kids and Traig were all in the car has he had taken the day off so we could go to Bloemfontein. I told the kids the “good news” that Palesa was in a home now and with her grandma. To them that sounds like a great thing! We pulled out of the lot and the tears where streaming down my checks. Then Hannah said, “That taxi sure has a nice sticker on it”. I looked up and at that moment God spoke to me through a taxi cab. The sticker said “Everything is in God’s Hands”.

So now I am back to where I started, on my knees praying for this baby and all the babies that have gone down this path before her and all the babies who someday will. We were privileged to share in her life for even such a short time and I thank God for the time that we had to care for her. I pray that her mother will one day be willing and able to care for her again. It is sad that this desperate mother could have ended this child’s life but chose to put her somewhere safe and she is now in jail for that decision. I am not advocating child abandonment, but children die here so often because their parents no longer want to or feel they can care for them. Palesa’s birthday is December 26th. We will be honoring her every year on that day by remembering the millions of orphaned and abandoned children all around the world. There are many charities that are in need of any help they can get. If you are interested in information on ways to help in Lesotho please contact us. Remember though, there are lots of children in the U.S. who are in need of love and assistance as well.

Grace and Peace, Laura


The Starfish Story
Original Story by: Loren Eisley

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…
“I made a difference for that one.”