As a learning environment, its role is to cultivate a sound understanding of the foundations of wine knowledge, service and guest interaction. As an industry team player, its role is to be of service to young adults by facilitating the early stages of their journey in a challenging and growing industry.
Created by sommelier and wine educator, Roxan Waldeck, there are currently two courses offered. The Introduction to Wine Course aims for each participant to develop proficiency and gain confidence in understanding the theoretical basics of wine. A broad and detailed scope of topics enables each participant to talk about and promote wine with informed appreciation. By the end of the course, the participants would have gained the essential wine related knowledge to pursue the limitless opportunities in the Wine and Hospitality industry.
In the Personal Development Course, the participant learns to identify themselves as a self-motivated, self-actualising young adults. They become emotionally mature as they learn introspective techniques, decision-making and communication skills. Apeirogon Youth Development Academy uniquely combines wine related basics with fundamental emotional intelligence.
Each offering contains a discourse on alcohol awareness where participants gradually learn to distinguish their principles from others’ so that amongst colleagues and peers, they become driven by their values, exercising more discernment in the face of alcohol related decisions. In the workplace, this transforms the sales dialogue and raises the standard of rapport.
The courses would take effect in those wine regions where the effects of alcohol misuse and unemployment pose limits to personal development and career opportunities. Either of these, if restricted in any way, makes growth within the individual as well as the community near impossible.
Many young people currently living in socially and economically challenged environments experience their lives through untrue assumptions about their own capabilities. The courses are constructed to be mindful of unfamiliar processes that may be new to many of them. It is sensitive to language barriers and cognitive of the different ideologies across the industry’s cultural landscape. In this way, Apeirogon Youth Development Academy is inclusive and unifying, fostering an interactive, introspective and fun learning environment.
Through skills development initiatives words like ‘underprivileged’ and ‘disadvantaged’ become far less relevant, even inappropriate. And words such as, ‘ambitious’, ‘courageous’ and ‘resilient’ become new descriptors for individuals and communities in a transition process. As within, so without. The Wine & Hospitality Industry is thereby enriched by empowered, independent young adults with the vision of an extraordinary future of which they are a part.
A soft launch will take place by invitation on 9 March 2022 in Cape Town.
For more info, email hello@apeirogonyouth.co.za or browse Apeirogon Facebook Page.
