A

This is A

I am me.

And I came to this place just an hour ago.

I don’t have a name.

I don’t know when I was born.

I don’t know what day it is, or why today was the day she couldn’t keep me.

All I know is that tonight,

my mommy left me.

She placed me down near someone’s house and left.

A kiss goodbye. No blanket. Just one final look.

I was so cold.

So very cold.

My whole body shook like the world was shattering inside me.

And maybe it was.

Then a dog barked.

Loud and angry.

It found me before kindness did.

I flinched, curled in, I was so scared.

Because what else could I do, when all I had ever known had just left me here?

I wanted Mommy.

I wanted her smell, her arms, her voice.

But instead, I got the wind.

The sharp, uncaring wind of a Durban night that clung to my skin like a punishment.

The people in the house came out.

First angry, then confused, then horrified.

They saw me an abandoned baby.

No bag, no note, no answers.

They didn’t walk away, instead they wrapped me in a blanket and drove me to the police station.

And there, someone finally saw more than my fear.

A policewoman smiled.

A police officer took off his thick jacket and wrapped me in it.

Then he held me close and for the first time, I stopped shaking.

They called a place Isiaiah 54 Children’s Sanctuary.

They said it was for little ones like me, the forgotten ones, the nowhere-else-to-go ones.

And that’s where I met Mama G and Aunty Jo.

Aunty Jo took me from the police officer.

They looked at me with eyes that had seen this kind of pain before.

They welcomed me without needing a reason.

Aunty Jo held me close and whispered,

“You are not just anyone. Your name is Zinhleminathi meaning Beauty of God with us. We’ll call you Zee.”

She ran a bath and filled it with warmth, like love in liquid form.

She washed away the dirt, the fear, the night.

Then soft pyjamas.

Blueberry yoghurt.

A warm bottle.

Gentle hands.

A kiss on the forehead.

And I slept.

I slept the kind of sleep that comes when exhaustion is finally met with safety.

Not because I wasn’t afraid anymore but because someone finally made it okay for me to close my eyes.

I still don’t know what tomorrow will hold.

But tonight:

I was held.

I was fed.

I was named.

I was loved.

And tonight, that is more than enough.

Zee, 1 year old

Isiaiah 54 Children’s Sanctuary

A Special Thank You

A huge thank you to the incredible Lions International Club for the brand new bag and toiletries donated with such love and care. And to the kind-hearted donors who gave brand new items for our Brave Bags, you’ve given more than just essentials, you’ve given dignity.

Something new. Something their own. Something that says:

“You matter.”

For many children entering our care, their whole world has just been turned upside down. Some arrive with only the clothes on their backs, some with their belongings in a plastic bag. But thanks to you, we can give them a Brave Bag, a beautiful start to a very brave chapter.

 Because no child should have to live out of a plastic packet.

They deserve more. And you helped us give them that.

Thank you for standing with us, for seeing them, and for helping us restore dignity, one Brave Bag at a time.