GAGAzette Winter 2025

GAGAzette Winter 2025 Greetings from Cape Town, and happy holiday season! What a fantastic year it has been for us here at GAGA UK. We have had much happening behind the scenes as usual. In addition to welcoming several new Trustees this year, we have also made considerable headway with our South African sister charity, GAGA ZA. We’re planning to formally launch GAGA ZA in mid-2027 and we’re really looking forward to sharing more about this in due course.

We have reached that busy time of year again when our students here in South Africa and Tanzania are busy either studying or writing their exams. Because the Southern Hemisphere schooling year runs from mid January to early December, our scholars will be due for a nice long and well deserved break once they’ve finished writing exams.

There are many more developments with our projects which we’re delighted to share with you. Read on for a year-end roundup of what’s been happening with our wonderful partners this autumn and winter.

I am wishing you a wonderful holiday season, and look forward to catching up in the New Year.

With warm wishes

Olivia Van Rensburg Director, GAGA UK

Sangobeg Scholarships Spotlight on Menzi (Sangobeg Scholarship Alumni) At this time of year, most of our 12 scholars on the Sangobeg Scholarship Programme are hard at work preparing for exams and other end-of-year activities. We thought, for a change, that we’d focus this report on one of our incredible alumni, Menzi Zulu, who was supported through the Sangobeg Scholarship Programme. Menzi is now working in Johannesburg in a job he loves, and he has also been instrumental in helping us set up our South African sister charity, Goodwill and Growth for Africa ZA. We recently opened this charity in an effort to fundraise locally in South Africa, as a supplement to our successful fundraising programmes in the UK. Menzi serves as the Vice-Chair of GAGA ZA. Here is what Menzi has to say about the role that the Sangobeg Scholarship Programme played in his life: “My journey began in a foster care centre, where I developed a deep interest in personal development and quickly realized that education would be the foundation for changing my life. This belief was strengthened through the support of GAGA UK. With GAGA UK’s help, and through the funding of the Sangobeg Scholarship Programme, I was fortunate not only to complete high school but to excel in my studies. Those achievements opened doors that allowed me to pursue my dream of furthering my education.

I went on to study Psychology and Human Resource Management at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and today I am proud to be working in Johannesburg as a Billing Escalations Supervisor, a leadership role in finance for one of South Africa’s leading Internet Service Providers.

My life has been nothing short of a blessing. Today, I serve with dignity and purpose. My mission is to meaningfully support others who find themselves where I once was, to show them that they are just one decision away from their goals. With the right support, the opportunities that come their way should be embraced wholeheartedly, because they can truly change the course of a life.

My studies acted as a catalyst in securing my current role, and none of this would have been possible without the funders who believed in me, even before they knew me.

The list of people who helped reshape my path, from a young boy in an orphanage to a key contributor in a leading South African company, is beyond measure.

I am especially grateful for the Sangobeg Scholarship Programme, which played a pivotal role in helping me realise my dreams. Through this testimony, it is my hope that individuals who find themselves in a position similar to mine will receive the same support and opportunities, so that they too can rewrite their stories and become another Menzi with a future worth celebrating.”

Thank you once again to our sponsor, Sangobeg Investments Ltd, for supporting so many like Menzi!

Kilimanjaro Young Girls in Need This year we have been lucky to have some families supporting KYGN making visits to the school in Tanzania. The KYGN Volunteer programme used to be an important aspect of their fundraising programme, however since the COVID-19 pandemic there has not been much interest in volunteering.

We’re grateful to Richard and Ros Clarke who visited the school in July with their two daughters, and Rowland and Kerry Johnson of the Johnson Foundation who visited the school with their children as well.

Volunteering can be an extremely rewarding activity and provides huge benefits for the children at the school as well. If you’re interested in supporting KYGN or making a visit to the school, please get in touch to find out more.

1000 Hills Community Helpers We are delighted to have been able to continue providing funding to the Baby Wellness Clinic at 1000 Hills Community Helpers in 2025. Here is what they told us in a recent report on the clinic: “We’ve recently been making up postpartum care kits to go along with our baby care packs.

Our new mothers also need as much support as they can get and for those of us who are mothers we can understand and appreciate this. Our postpartum packs consist of maternity pads, breast pads, a face cloth, bar of soap, toothpaste and body cream. Making new moms feel loved and cared for is something that we are passionate about.

We continue to see a lot of babies who are underweight, malnutrition is still a problem mainly because of poverty. We continue to see infants being fed porridge well before it is safe to do so. Starting solids too early can cause many health issues like digestive problems, poor growth and even infections.

We continue to provide our new mothers with education on postpartum care, breastfeeding, newborn care and health. Below is a case study on one of our mothers and how we supported her.

Thembi, a first-time mom, visited our baby clinic with her 6-week-old baby, Amahle. Thembi was concerned about Amahle’s feeding habits and her own ability to breastfeed. We assessed Amahle’s weight, length, and overall health. We also discussed with Thembi her concerns and provided guidance on breastfeeding techniques which included proper latching techniques. We provided Thembi with a personalized feeding schedule to ensure Amahle was receiving adequate nutrition along with regular follow-up visits to our baby clinic to monitor Amahle’s growth and development.

Outcome: Thembi felt more confident in her ability to breastfeed, Amahle’s weight gain improved, and she was meeting developmental milestones. Our team played a vital role in supporting Thembi and Amahle’s health and well-being.

Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust This November our wonderful partner Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust celebrated an incredible milestone – their 35th anniversary. Congratulations to HACT on 35 years of championing unconditional love and hope, as well as medical advances and huge achievements in the field of HIV/AIDS awareness. Founded in 1990, the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust (HACT) is dedicated to saving and transforming lives. As one of the first NGO’s in South Africa to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, HACT has established a reputation for making a significant and meaningful impact in the lives of people impacted by the disease.

Congratulations HACT on this remarkable milestone. Special thanks to the Kate Farrer Foundation whose grants through GAGA UK have been supporting HACT for the past two years.

Are you interested in leaving a gift in your will?

Whatever the size, when you include a gift to GAGA UK in your will, you are giving our future generations the opportunity to create a brighter future. Leaving a legacy is a way to ensure that your values of equality and opportunity can carry on. To learn more about how to leave a gift in your will, contact olivia@gaga-uk.org.

Get in touch +44(0)1789 414088

olivia@gaga-uk.org

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GAGA UK

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