Dear Friends of Golden Sunbeams,
Despite the still beautiful summer weather, the days are getting shorter here at the Cape. Autumn is just around the corner, and the children already had two weeks of school holidays from March 21 to April 8. There are no Easter holidays here; the schools are only closed for the holidays from April 18 to 21.
Therefore, starting April 11, we began distributing hundreds of chocolate Easter bunnies and chocolate Easter eggs to over 300 beaming boys and girls in seven of our kindergartens.
On 11 April, we kicked off this year’s Easter campaign at the Helderberg Golden Sunbeam créche in Macassar township in glorious sunshine. We hid Easter surprise bags filled with chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs for all the children behind climbing frames, in the sandpit, and in other “secret places” in the kindergarten’s play area.
The little ones were really excited at first and couldn’t wait to finally start the search. Everyone had a blast and cheered at every bag of Easter eggs they found. And you can imagine: of course they found ALL of them!
Our sponsored children Liza, Liam, and Nazeem experienced a very special surprise during the school holidays: their sponsors Dita and Jörn-Erik Fröhlich invited the children on a trip to Betty’s Bay, a well-known penguin colony in the Western Cape. This experience will remain in everyone’s memory for a long time.
At the nature reserve in Betty’s Bay, the three learned a lot about the penguins and were thrilled to be able to get so close to them.
Before Liza, Liam, and Nazeem and their sponsors returned home, they enjoyed an ice cream on the beach. This made a perfect end to the trip.
At the Playway kindergarten in Helderzicht, we were also able to make many children happy with our Easter bags. The kindergarten teachers, too, were pleased about the early Easter surprise and Britta’s mother, who helped her with the distribution, was immediately welcomed into their midst.
A few weeks ago, we funded a new exterior paint job at Playway. An artist from the Nomzamo township then painted the exterior wall with child-friendly motifs. As a thank you for our support, the artist attempted to paint a portrait of Britta on the house wall. We were touched and grateful for this kind gesture.
The next day, we visited the EmfundiSweni pre-primary school in the township of Nomzamo. Here, too, the children were thrilled when we told them that we had hidden an Easter bag in the garden for each of them.
The first Easter bags were quickly found, but towards the end it wasn’t always easy, especially for the little ones, and some of them had to stretch to reach their Easter bag.
All’s well that ends well: every child held their Easter surprise in their hands and there was great joy.
Early in the morning on Wednesday, April 16, we went to Kingdom Kids Edu-Care in the township of Sir Lowry’s Pass – 104 children were waiting for us there.
Immediately afterwards, we drove to the Lekkerbekkies Edu-Care Centre in the Rusthof township. There, 23 children’s eyes beamed with joy as they held our Easter bags in their hands.
Here, the teachers of the school put a lot of effort into lovingly decorating the room for the children. There was a large themed wall and a photo frame for each child to be photographed individually – a wonderful keepsake of this special day.
Afterwards, the tour continued to the Covenant Kids Edu-Care Centre, run by Chrizell and George Strangman. Chrizell had once again come up with something very special for the children this Easter: she and over 90 children hunted for Easter eggs in the beautifully decorated play area. There were signposts with Easter bunny motifs and balloons containing sweets. Each child had to pop a balloon to get to the treats.
On Thursday, April 17, our seventh and final Easter egg hunt took place at Loflands Day-Care in the Rusthof township. June, the principal of the school had previously crafted lovely Easter decorations, and all the children received Easter bunny ears as headdresses. The joy was immense as the 30 children held their Easter bags in their little hands, discovered the many treats, and could hardly wait to show their families their treasures…
The week before Easter, June read the Easter story from the Children’s Bible to the children, thus preparing them for the upcoming Easter celebration.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to our members, sponsors, and godparents. Only with your financial support are we able to give such gifts to the children. We are very grateful to all of you for that!
We wish you a happy Easter, wonderful times with your families and friends, and Easter walks in the sunshine!
Warm regards
Britta and Claudia