‘We will not give you anything, but what we will do is create a door for you to open in order to have access to world class education but we cannot walk through that door for you’
These were the words that Dave Varty said to the Londolozi staff when the Varty family returned to Londolozi in 2007. This promise has been kept and their have been many members of the Londolozi family who have walked through the door and excelled in a number of various courses that have been available to them at the Londolozi Learning Centre.
‘We offer you a place and space to become the best version of yourself’ – Dave Varty Londolozi CEO and co-owner
Together with the Good Work Foundation and Course facilitator Mo Groch, the Londolozi Digital Learning Centre was setup and several internationally accredited courses and modules were made available to the greater Londolozi community. On the 21st of April we had a graduation for the students that completed some of these courses. It is important to Londolozi to acknowledge the staff members that made the decision to walk through the doors of the learning centre and better themselves.
Linky Nkuna and her son Langu – Full circle. Linky is the Centre Coordinator at Madlala Digital Learning Centre, which is based at Madlala High School. That’s the same high school that Linky attended 15 years ago. After spending a number of years working at Londolozi Private Game Reserve as a Camp Manager she has found her passion bringing “digital-era” literacy education and career-training to individuals (both school-aged learners and adults) who want to invest in their own futures
There were two parts to the graduation ceremony at Londolozi, the first part was The International Computer Drivers License(ICDL) graduation. Everyone from housekeepers, Londolozi living shop attendants to our very own air marshal received their ICDL certificates. This is an incredible accomplishment bearing in mind that a lot of Londolozi staff did not necessarily grow up in an environment that gave them access to computers and the internet.
ICDL Graduates. From the left: Nkululeko works in our finance department, Witness works in the Londolozi learning centre, Maide was a scullery lady and is now training as a butler, Thandy works in our Living shop, Sipho is our storeman in the kitchen and Henry is our air marshal and is also training in the Londolozi Living shop.
The next certificates given out were to the graduates of the Lobster Ink programme that has been available to staff members for almost two years now. This has been an incredibly beneficial course for the whole Londolozi family as it is the hospitality education system that trains staff and management, in areas of Service, Bar, Wine, Spirits, Housekeeping, Guiding and International Standards. Not only has it been beneficial from a hospitality side of things but it has also provided the opportunity for certain Londolozi staff members to explore a completely different position that they never thought they could do. There are many examples of this, such as housekeepers becoming butlers, the stores assistants have joined the tracker academy and butlers have become camp managers. Daves advice to the Londolozi family in 2007 to ‘become the best version of themselves that they can be’ is truly coming into fruition.
Cry Sithole and Trisha Siegel – Both these camp managers have played big roles in the growth of the Lobster Ink programme at Londolozi. They were both on the Lobster Ink Cape Town trip. Trisha brought the course to Londolozi and has been the force behind making sure that all staff members from all departments are getting involved. Cry has finished both the Bar and Service courses and he is half way through the Wine section. During his off time he is always found in the Learning centre either helping other students to learn or doing it himself.
Thank you to Londolozi and the Varty family for providing that door for the Londolozi family so many years ago!
If you are interested in what the Good Work Foundation is all about either visit their website or watch the below video:
Written by Kate Neill
Photographed by Simon Bannister and David Dampier
Keep up the Good Work….pun intended.
What a special day to be a part of!!
Congratulations to everyone!!! A very special day!
You should be proud.