Dear Friends of Golden Sunbeams
The past few weeks have been full of encounters, activities, and projects that we were able to fulfil, together with your support. We’ve been able to implement numerous small but impactful projects. Each one has brought hope, joy, and new perspectives in its own way. Many small initiatives have shown that big gestures are not always necessary to make a difference.
In this newsletter, we’d like to give you an insight into the diversity of our work—and how many small steps can lead to a big journey.
In August, we were able to financially support a project run by our partner organisation Masikhule, which is making a small but significant difference: 53 coat and kindergarten bag hangers were installed in 13 Edu-Care Centres (ECD’s) in the Helderberg region. Now the children can hang up their bags and jackets neatly – their belongings are protected, and at the same time valuable space is created for playing. This simple solution gives the children more freedom, ease, and carefree moments in their everyday kindergarten life.
A lot has also happened at our Helderberg Golden Sunbeam in the township of Macassar since our last visit. Our long-time kindergarten teachers, Ingrid (left in the photo below) and Valencia (right in the photo), who have supported the children with so much heart and dedication over the past four years, are moving to the primary school in Macassar. We wish them a lot of success in their new careers and are pleased that Ingrid will continue to support the kindergarten two afternoons a week. At the same time, however, it was necessary to provide additional staff so that the children could continue to receive loving care in the future.
Quinton Manuel (center, pictured), the principal at Golden Sunbeams, is very happy that his new team is now complete. Cindy (bottom right), whose children used to attend the Golden Sunbeams kindergarten themselves, is now working as the new kindergarten teacher for the pre-school children. Tammi, the kindergarten teacher (second from right in the picture below), has been working at Helderberg Golden Sunbeams for some time and looks after the largest group, the 3- to 4-year-old children. Furthermore, kindergarten teacher Nicolin (second from left in the picture below) is a new addition to the team and looks after the babies at Helderberg Golden Sunbeams. And “Uncle” (left in the picture below) is the facility Manager, who has been taking care of many organisational and administrative tasks for many years, as well as security and the outdoor area.
In addition, our Helderberg Golden Sunbeams kindergarten has been receiving valuable support from Katrina Borowski since August 15, 2025. She grew up in South Africa, is fluent in English, Afrikaans, and German, and will be supporting us as a volunteer until the end of the year.
Katrina is the daughter of Monika and Klaus Borowski – long-time supporters of Golden Sunbeams, who actively supported Bernd Holtkamp in building his very first kindergarten, Helderberg Golden Sunbeam, back in 1998. We are all the more pleased that the new generation is now continuing this commitment. We warmly welcome Katrina and wish her many wonderful, enriching experiences with the children.
Another project we started in July at Loflands Day-Care in Rusthof was the renovation of the kitchen. Since June, the principal, applied for registration for her ECD centre some time ago, we decided not only to repair the roof and the interior ceiling, but also to renovate the entire kitchen.
In August, we also laid new tiles, so the kitchen now shines in a whole new light, and hopefully the health department won’t have any complaints during the registration inspection.
On August 22, 2025, we visited the Kingdom Kids ECD centre in the township of Sir Lowry’s Pass, and it was very nice to see that the new garden we planted was finally producing fruit again.
As you may recall, our entire vegetable garden was completely destroyed during the severe storm on September 29, 2023. First, we replaced the washed-away fence with a sturdy wall. Together with the CHEAFRICA Foundation, we redesigned the garden from scratch: fertile soil was delivered and a shade roof was erected – as several trees had also been uprooted by the flooding.
In May of this year, we were finally able to plant numerous vegetable seedlings. We are delighted to report that all the plants have developed beautifully – and the garden is now once again providing us with fresh, healthy vegetables.
The actual reason for our visit to the Kingdom Kids ECD centre in Sir Lowry’s Pass was actually quite different: Quaid, the kindergarten teacher’s son, celebrated his birthday on August 22, 2025. Since August, Quaid has had a dear sponsor at his side who has taken over his sponsorship. This makes it possible for him to continue attending the private primary school in Gordon’s Bay – 50% of his school fees are now covered by his supporter. She also wanted to give Quaid a special treat for his birthday. We were, of course, happy to fulfill this wish – and were able to create an unforgettable day for him.
We then learned from Quaid’s mother that his wish list included a very special gift: a remote-controlled car. Naturally, we were happy to grant his heartfelt wish. He was overjoyed! As soon as the wrapping paper was removed, the car had to be tried out immediately. With full concentration and great skill, Quaid drove his new vehicle and proved himself to be a very skilled and talented driver.
And there’s also news from our sponsored children Liza, Liam, and Nazeem. As we reported in our previous newsletters, they began receiving swimming lessons in mid-April and have been taken to swimming training together almost every Saturday since then.
Now we can truly say they can swim!!! Week after week, the three of them enjoyed their Saturday trips to the pool with great joy and perseverance. The effort was worth it: They proudly accepted their swimming certificate from their swimming coach – a major milestone that they can be truly proud of.
There was a special highlight for Nazeem: He not only trained with enthusiasm, but also made exceptionally great progress. He also received a certificate as the “swimmer with the greatest progress.” Everyone was delighted for Nazeem about this special award.
Moments like these show how valuable it is to open up opportunities for children to learn new things and build their self-confidence. Many thanks again to the Fröhlich family, whose support made this success possible.
We would like to share a very special photo with you at the end of this newsletter. It shows the moon behind the cable car station on Table Mountain during the lunar eclipse on September 7, 2025.
Our gratitude goes out to all of you, because these projects would not be possible without the support of our members, sponsors, patrons, and partners.
Together, we are all looking forward to spring. The weather is already sunny and warm, everything is radiant and blooming here at the Cape. And so we beam and send our warmest regards.
Yours
Britta and Claudia