A will to serve and protect, while changing people’s lives for the better is what makes Louise Batty a phenomenal woman.
Busisiwe Maimela met up with Batty, who is originally from Australia. She says that her love for children and for making a difference in people’s lives is what brought her to South Africa.
“It wasn’t an easy transition. I went through so much just to be here today and make an impact on the lives of my staff and the children,” stated Batty.
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She attributes her patience to God, as her provider through the best and worst of times.
“I literally had to give up everything in Australia to answer God’s call. There were times where I sat by myself and laughed while thinking, God has a sense of humour. I mean, after I gave everything up to come here, I was denied citizenship and ill-treated by some of the people here during my application process. That made me furious, but I had to hold on to my faith and believe that God will see to it that I fulfill my purpose,” she exclaimed.
Batty has been running Keep The Dream196 (KTD), which is an organisation that sets out to change people’s lives, young and old alike, since November 2003.
KTD is part of Scouts South Africa and they help communities realise the difference that gentleness and selflessness can make to the upbringing of young children.
Her team, which has become her family, describe Batty as an extraordinary and phenomenal woman who is kind and soft but knows how to get results when need be.
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“When I first joined KTD, I was an individual who fell short on patience and understanding. I constantly saw more bad than good in people because of the rough background that I grew up in. But Louise helped me through all that anger and bitterness and today, I am such a strong and bold woman who takes her time to listen and understand other peoples situations and circumstances. She has truly made an immense impact in my life, personally and professionally,” explained Constance Mpuru, who was awarded with a Silver Star for Bravery and a certificate for her selflessness in saving a group of young children from a swarm of bees earlier this year.
Angelina Malatji stated that KTD, with the help of Louise Batty, helped her turn her weaknesses into strengths and she has since started working with multiple schools within the area of Fobeni village just outside Tzaneen.
Batty has influenced and impacted a number of women, men and children into seeing a better tomorrow and helped them understand that nothing is ever as permanent as it may seem.
She stated that children who join KTD have shown great improvement and results in their school work.
“Teenage pregnancy has reduced from 13% to 0.07% within the schools that we work with, the matric pass rate has gone up to 90% and teenage suicides have been reported as close to nonexistent. That for me says a lot, but it also shows me that there is still more to be done. I am not good at looking at what has been done, but much rather what still needs to be done,” she explained.
