Dear Friends of Golden Sunbeams
It all began with him more than 20 years ago” – thus reads the headline on our website. In the meantime, a good 24 years have passed since the founding of our first kindergarten “Helderberg Golden Sunbeam” and there is always a lot to do.
We renewed the entire roof just last year – and hey, hey, hey, it has held up well this winter so far. Unfortunately, when installing the new roof, the chimney was damaged. The fireplace no longer drew and the outlet pipes were also defective, which only became apparent later when specialists inspected them.
Luckily, the winter here in the Cape region has been very mild so far and using a wood-burning fireplace is not absolutely necessary. The downside of the moderate winter: it hardly rained in June and July and the dams are only 75% full. We would be happy if we could still be blessed with a lot of rain in August and September. We would then be well prepared for the coming mostly very dry summer months.
But back to winter! In the township kindergartens, wood-burning fireplaces are not a matter of course. The opposite is true, and a warming fireplace is the absolute exception. According to the motto “the next harsh winter will definitely come” we had the defective chimney and the pipes of the fireplace replaced. The children and kindergarten teachers at the Helderberg Golden Sunbeam in the township of Macassar are very grateful for the luxury of their fireplace. They are happy they can spend time in their comfortable, warm classrooms during the often cold and wet days.
We at Golden Sunbeams e.V. are not the only ones who continuously optimise the construction and organisation of the facility.
After the death of his wife Marinda a year and a half ago, Abraham Manuel took over the management of the kindergarten and since then he has been very dedicated and loving about the further improvement and beautification of his kindergarten.
The flower beds are extremely well cared for, the wall at the playground was painted cheerfully and appropriately for children, Abraham had protective covers made for the mattresses we sponsored for the children’s naps, which can now be washed and cleaned without any problems.
During one of our visits over the past few days, we brought a large bag of peacock feathers that a long-time sponsor and supporter of Golden Sunbeams e.V. had given us for the children.
The children had a lot of fun playing with the feathers, doing handicrafts and they were happy that they could take a feather home later.
We send a heartfelt thank you to our friends, donors and sponsors, who make it possible for us to implement projects like these in the first place. We would also like to thank Christian Faitsch and his team from Faitsch Products for the installation work on the fireplace and the sizeable discount which he gave us.
We send warm greetings from beautiful Cape Town
Britta & Bernd