Dear Friends of Golden Sunbeams
Since the beginning of May last year we have often mentioned the soup kitchens, which are operated by our kindergarten teachers and ourselves – and of course, yourselfes – for your support and and encouragement during the Covid pandemic and encouraged. Although the numbers in South Africa are falling once again, the end of the pandemic is not yet in sight: the next wave is predicted for November / December.
Long queues at food distribution points and soup kitchens are part of the street scene in the townships. Hunger among the very poor has increased since the beginning of the pandemic. Many of the long-established soup kitchens have increased the number of meals they serve and the number of days they are served. New soup kitchens are being founded by people who are fortunate enough to be able to provide for themselves and who want to help alleviate the misery in their townships. Even if most of them don’t have much themselves, they feel responsible for helping those who are still poorer.
Zanele, our principal of Bright Future Edu-Care Center in Asanda Village township, is one of those people. Supported by donations she has unceremoniously turned her kitchen into a soup kitchen.
For a few weeks now, her cook Grace has been cooking for the members of her community on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Zanele is supported with private donations so that she can buy groceries. The enormous amount of time spent in preparation and cooking, the distribution of food and the subsequent and the washing up, is done by Zanele and her team out of selfless charity.
Bernd Holtkamp enjoys bringing the ingredients to Magdalena and her loyal cook, Bobby, to the soup kitchen.
In 2018, we invested in converting a large and functional kitchen in the Bridge Park Edu-Care kindergarten in the township of Macassar. At that stage, over 100 meals a day were cooked there and distributed once a week to the community. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of hungry people in Macassar also increased. Magdalena also saw the hunger and the need in her community, therefore she now cooks three days a week.
Since many of the needy people are old and cannot walk, Magdalena now distributes the hot meals at three different locations in the township of Macassar. Magdalena is also a person who cares for others and helps wherever she can.
Even before the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, our principal Zelna and Nomalizo each operated a soup kitchen. But the two have one more thing in common: both of them cultivate their own vegetable garden.
At Kingdom Kids Edu-Care Center in Sir Lowry’s Pass township, Zelna and her two daughters have been cooking for members of their community for many years. The home-grown vegetables are processed into meals that are given to their kindergarten protégés and people in need.
Sir Lowry’s Pass is one of the poorest townships in the region. Because Zelna’s vegetable garden is right next to a small stream, we were able to significantly improve the water supply in the dry season with the installation of a pump and an irrigation system and thus also significantly increase the harvest yield.
A stark contrast: the most beautiful weather over the Helderberg massif – starving people from the township of Sir Lowry’s Pass are queuing for soup.
Zelna made it possible for two eager boys, who helped her with her gardening, to create their own small vegetable garden on her property. The boys are very proud, they are learning the basics of growing vegetables, taking responsibility and eating healthily.
Nomalizos vegetable garden in the Emfundisweni Pre-School in Nomzamo.
Nomalizo, the principal of Emfundisweni in the township of Nomzamo, has also been running a small soup kitchen for a long time. She cooks with the vegetables from her own garden and now looks after many children and needy people in her community. In 2014, her garden received the government’s award for “Best Vegetable Garden in a Township in South Africa”.
We are currently installing a new irrigation system with three large water tanks and a pump. This ensures more effective cultivation of the vegetable garden, especially in the dry season.
For an all-round healthy diet: vegetables, salads and herbs as far as the eye can see.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have contributed with donations to overcome the extreme bottleneck in caring for the children from our kindergartens, their families, our kindergarten teachers and our craftsmen, with whom we have worked for many years.
These grants are only possible because you support us generously and regularly. Every donation counts, every membership fee, every appeal for donations via facebook, simply every engagement.
Our donation account:
Golden Sunbeams e.V.
Standard Bank
Account number 10112371777
Swift SBZAZAJJ
We, all the children, our kindergarten leaders would like to thank you, our sponsors, friends and acquaintances, for your great support.
Thank you very much, stay with us and above all: stay healthy and happy!
Britta & Bernd