Salt Rock resident strives to empower the youth through education with Partners for Possibility

She arrives with big bags filled with teaching aids, walks quickly, greets every pupil loudly, hugs teachers, jokes, and exudes hope and optimism.

Salt Rock resident Karenne Bloomgarden was a teacher in New York City when she got involved with Habitat for Humanity in 2001 which brought her to South Africa.

“I fell in love with the people while I was here and being a teacher, I saw a need to support our teachers and give the kids a chance at more than what they have now.

“I could not just stand by and ignore what was happening in our schools,” said Bloomgarden, who has been involved with schools ever since.

“The teachers have obstacles that make teaching/learning next to impossible. How can a teacher be expected to teach 50-90 children in one class, with inadequate resources?”

She spent the first six years running a teacher training/ literacy programme called KB Empower Teachers to Empower our Youth in over 28 schools.

“I am trying to get teachers to learn how important it is for kids to learn to think, problem solve and question. This goes against the grain of our current education.”

Her teachers in KZN were experiencing success and so she was asked to branch out the programme to other provinces.

“I trained teachers in the Western Cape, Limpopo and Eastern Cape and I found the educational system in KZN to be the most challenging. I would come home after spending the day visiting my teachers and schools and cry.

“The reality of how this education system is failing our youth gave me a feeling of hopelessness.”

She stopped, took a year off trying to forgive herself for giving up and felt miserable without being surrounded by kids.

Then, she found new hope in Partners for Possibility (PfP)  – a programme that partners business owners with principals.

“PfP has given me the tools, materials and insight to turn my negative attitude towards the education system to positive. I just love it and I have seen the change.”

She said one of the many successes as a result of PfP is an initiative run by Ashton’s head of Ashlings Early Learning Centre Flick Holmes and her staff.

“The Ashton staff spent their own time, money and effort preparing workshops for our under-resourced local schools’ teachers offered on a Saturday.

“The teachers are taught the basics such as how to make games and how to manage a classroom and are given resources and skills they have never had before.”

She has just completed her fourth training session offered to the Grade R teachers from their PfP schools and said she is eternally grateful to Holmes and her staff.

“The generosity of these ladies is exactly why I moved to South Africa – thank you so much.”

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