In celebration of Nelson Mandela International Day, which calls for transformation in the world and making an impact for at least 67 Minutes, KWV hosted students from the Pebbles Project at their Emporium in Paarl, Western Cape. With the main focus on education, through the School Leavers Programme they have been able to provide learners with sufficient information to make responsible and informed career decisions.
The programme for the day was centred around career empowerment: Marietjie Nieder-Heitmann in Human Resources concentrated on CV and interview preparation; Dala Boshoff focused on tourism as a career choice; and Christyl Kleinveld mapped out the departments and roles in Finance. The career guidance was followed by a tour of the distillery, ending with lunch.
One of the attendees was Bradley Kriel, 21, who has been with Pebbles since 2007 and is now doing his 3rd year in BA Language and Culture at Stellenbosch University. His journey with them began with the After School Programme and he has since received guidance with varsity applications and post acceptance training and mentoring. “After studying I want to get my post-graduate certificate and go on to work with Pebbles, because they have changed my life and that’s why I want to work for them because they are changing a lot of children’s lives”, He says.
The partnership between Pebbles and KWV began in 2013 with a small scale sponsoring of their after school soccer club. It has evolved from that to the after-school computer programme in 2014 and now the School-leaver Programme. “We decided to fund this programme as we felt that it offered the learners an opportunity to have a better chance of study, employment and career prospects.”, says Lize Meyer Sustainability Manager at KWV.
The Pebbles Project is a non-profit organisation that is passionate about supporting children and their families in farming communities in South Africa. With the support of KWV, they have been able to contribute to the lives of children, with special educational needs, from disadvantaged communities. KWV has invested R100 000 into the Pebbles School Leavers Programme for 2018.
This collaboration has been a significant and lasting difference to the standard of education in farming communities, because of its focus on the entire life of the child and the challenging circumstances in which they are living in.
The KWV foundation is dedicated to developing communities in and around the farming area. They have also sponsored R150 000 to the Khula Development Group to assist in their quest to train, equip and empower Fieldworkers to reintegrate children that drop out of school, back into the school system. They facilitate training in their Pearly Bay Hall for Aikido South Africa (ASA), that offers traditional form of martial arts to children, the youth, women and adults across the spectrum. The KWV Foundation also supports Ligstraal School for LSEN, Boland School for Autism, Worcester Doelbal Klub and Magda’s Soup Kitchen.
