Personally, I think Oprah is a wonderful human being. The clip above will give you a good idea of one of her more recent large undertakings- a
Leadership Academy for girls in South Africa. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls is a boarding school for grades 7–12 in South Africa. It is the school of Oprah’s dreams, but to make it a reality, she has to find the perfect students. “This is a school for leaders,” Oprah says. “This is a school for powerful girls who will use their power in service to their nation and to our world.”
Within Oprah’s empire, is a fantastic program called the Angel Network- The Angel Network has launched an online community for people who are making a difference in the lives of others. Within this network is The Creating Schools project which is an innovative solution to the Education Crisis. It focuses on building schools in poor, remote areas of South Africa. Seven Fountains Primary School is the first school built as part of the program. Two others are breaking ground in 2009. You can donate through Oprah.com and funds are given towards school building projects in South Africa. It is clear the Oprah feels that the responsibility of education falls on all individuals of society to assist- either hands on or by donating funds. This solution is quite traditional and obvious, but it isn’t being done as often as it could be. Imagine how many schools could be built if every celebrity felt this strong about the cause. Oprah hopes her donations towards schools will influence the government to see that they too can make these changes.
“The greatest gift you can give is the gift of learning. Education is the path for possibility.” Oprah
Sara Graves said,
June 14, 2009 @ 10:14 pm
I was able to watch Oprah’s entire segment dedicated to this special cause; it was extremely touching, and I think she was able to move a lot of people in just one hour. Many of Oprah’s shows focus primarily on teaching and education, and she even chose 200 teachers to be the lucky recipients of her Christmas give-a-ways! She has been an advocate for education, but has also developed her website to help bring awareness to a variety of other causes or issues, on both individual and social levels. If you had teb minutes on the Oprah show to talk to her about education, what would you ask her? And what advice would you give her on deepening her impact?
almal4 said,
June 15, 2009 @ 7:08 am
Thanks for the comment Sara. I know! I saw the original special segment, but i just watched all parts of the segment on youtube the other night and I went through all the emotions a second time. It is truly touching and inspiring. If i had 10 minutes with Oprah…hmm. I would probably ask her the following:
1. What do you think the barrier is to universal education?
2. (depending on her response) Why hasn’t CHANGE been made yet?
3. Do you think President Obama will have any impact on the education crisis?
4. How much of the responsibility of education rests on the shoulders of our world leaders?
5. When are you planning on opening more Leadership Academy’s?
Oprah is a genius when it comes marketing herself other other issues- which only strengthens her impact. She certainly has the power and influence to create societal movement and motivated others to make change. Every piece of advice i think of- she does it already. She physically meets the changemakers and those who are in need of help. She donates millions towards wonderful causes. She raises great awareness of the worlds problems and spreads new light on what we think we already know. I guess i would say- how do we create more people in society who think and act like you do?