Robertson Winery celebrated Mandela Day this year by donating 50 tablets to learners at Nkqubela Primary School.
The winery established the Really Good Library at the school in March 2021, truly bringing the “small town with a big heart” ethos that Robertson Winery stands for to life.
For the device handover the winery brought more than 30 parents and grandparents of learners at the school – all part of the Robertson Winery family – to have their hands painted and make their mark on a piece of art to be hung at the library.
Robertson Winery Marketing Manager Ankia Niemann said while the library was designed with vivid illustrations, highlighting what makes the Robertson Valley so special, the winery wanted to take that a step further by bringing the many hands of the community into the school.
She said: “Just as it takes many hands to make our wine, so it takes many hands to raise a child, and we wanted that heritage, legacy and sense of community to be visually displayed for the kids to see.”
The library itself, which is available to more than 1 000 learners at the school, is covered in imagery representing what the valley is all about, a plentiful one of wine, horses and roses depicted as something the children can be proud of, with interactive elements specially created for the learners to find hidden letters in the scenes.
John Ngonyama, principal of Nkqubela Primary School, says the impact of the library at the school has been profound.
“The library has been such an incredible blessing to the learners,” he said. “We were all really struggling with getting the learners excited about reading and now they are always in there.”
Ngonyana goes on to say that the children love spending time in the library and the teachers have noticed such a great improvement in their reading skills.
Niemann added, in the words of Mandela himself, “it is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it.” She says the Robertson Winery has focused on giving back to the community it has interacted with, which has worked at the winery for many generations, and Mandela Day was a wonderful opportunity to bring this to life.
