An Inspired Model or a Misguided One: Oprah Winfreys Dream School for Impoverished South African Girls
This case is about Oprah Winfrey, the woman of substance who is the ultimate rags to riches story of her era. It precisely started in December 2000 when Oprah promised Nelson Mandela to build a facility for the disadvantageous girls. The roots of the idea also trace back to a particular personal realization of Oprah herself, she was not very happy in giving away huge sums of money in charity. This pledge of hers to build a $40 Million school originally stemmed from this realization of getting actively involved in real charity. Oprah had been minting money as one of the most popular TV Hosts, and she envisioned a school for competent but economically
…show more content…
Her idea was rooted in the conviction that from the ranks would emerge new girls who would enable the making of “the country of new beginnings” – as she put it. The initiative drew massive criticism as well, apart from genuine praise. The critics challenged it on the grounds that the project had depth but lacked breadth; that it was a huge and lavish investment for just a handful of the populace. The edifice which started operating on January 02, 2007 told the world that the selected girls were Oprah’s daughters and that they were safe with Oprah, even safer than they would be in their own homes. The critics said that the initiative was so much for so few; Oprah insisted that it was so much for the deserving ones – those who had earned it by proving their potential. It was also lamented by words such as ‘Vanity Project’, and critics said that in a sea of poverty offering help to select few girls is not at all appropriate. Some claimed that she has built the school for herself, to satisfy herself. However, Oprah’s very own words at the end of …show more content…
However, the explanation of this statement as a response to the question would entail delving deeper into the personal history of Oprah Winfrey as the mastermind of this initiative. Her own life experiences are a great determinant of the design of the project. The belief in the transformational prowess of education is also her hard earned conviction. Oprah was born in 1951 to a couple which was out of wedlock. Her rearing up was done amidst extreme poverty, sexual assault, problems of shelter, and it did not stop there for she also suffered from teen pregnancy and gave birth to a baby at the tender age of fourteen. To top it all, her baby died in infancy. This was the ugly part of her inspiration, the beautiful bits found comfort in her relationship with her grandmother from whom Oprah truly learned to love reading and recitation. This helped her with her oratory later in life. The background of Oprah explains the feminist flare in her, and gives reasons for her focus on Girls only with her Leadership Academy initiative. This, however, does not eliminate the need for an equally good setup for South African
As technology has developed over the years, society has become extremely reliant and addicted to the media. According to A.C. Nielsen Co., a global information and measurement firm, the average American youth watches twenty eight hours of television per week. Within a sixty-five year timeframe an individual will have spent a total of nine years watching TV (Herr). Both of these sects contribute millions of jobs providing individuals with ample opportunities, a gateway to success. It certainly provided the break for one African American woman to attain a status she could have only dreamt of as a child growing up in an unstable, emotionally debilitating, and unpromising environment. Oprah Winfrey is arguably one of the most influential women in modern times. She sprang up from seemingly nowhere becoming a media mogul, named most influential and wealthiest woman numerous years in a row by both Forbes and The Time. Oprah was brought to fame for her critically acclaimed talk show, which swiftly boosted her from rags to riches, and over the years resulted in her crowning as the “Queen of Talk.” Oprah Gail Winfrey, named the first African American female billionaire, was nominated for an academy award in her performance in The Color Purple, and through hard work and persistence forged her way into a position as CEO of her own television network and production company. Her self-entitled talk show, which would become the highest rated of its kind, served as a pioneer for many TV shows that emerged in the late 1980’s following the premiered of her show on daytime television. “I’m Oprah Winfrey, and welcome to the very first national Oprah Winfrey Show!” she exclaimed as the studio audience cheered enthusiastically (Brown). However, what pe...
As Kenyan mother once said, “My dreams don’t look exactly like I thought they would when I was a little girl” (nd). Jacqueline Novogratz, a modern philanthropist, understands this better than most. A typical American girl, she found herself in Africa, helping women with no voice in their world. She never planned for this growing up, but her leadership, determination, and new way of looking at the world was in her from the beginning.
...Bridgewater State University was a complete success. For some that she presented in front of, it could have been the first time that they have ever heard of her community center in Tanzania or the first time they have ever heard of Tanzania. Relating to her overall purpose of being at the university, her message was received well by many. As she said, she wanted to make people more aware that volunteer work can help inspire people to make a difference in their communities. She has successfully presented a case were two people exiled from a country; in which they were brought up, and moved to a country that is 180°different having success in creating a stronger community and were able to have that community become worldly known: with the lack of technology. This is a remarkable and evident accomplishment of the organizational structure utilized for social services.
Raquel and Melanie are two poverty stricken students that attended University Height’s High School in the South Bronx, because their school was not federal funded, it lacked resources; so it does not come as a surprise, perspective students like Melanie and Raquel have more of a ...
This week a researched a paper based on a famous historical figure, Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954. The reason why I choose this person on a famous Historical figure, Because she is a talk show host, Producer, actress, an American media proprietor and philanthropist. She is mostly known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, from 1986 to 2011 she had the highest rated television program of its kind in history, she also has been known as “ Queen of all media.” Oprah has been even ranked the richest African American of the 20th century.
Oprah has been known as “one of America’s top 50 most generous philanthropist” as she continues to contribute ten percent of her income ($385 million in 2008) to her favorite charities, related to education, youths, and literature. She had donated millions to Tennessee State University which is her alma mater as part of the scholarship funds, The United Negro Fund, to encourage young black Americans to pursue their dreams, and the Harold Washington Library, which is a program for economically disadvantaged Chicago-area young girls.
I gulped. This was clearly not a good start to my family’s first night as permanent staff members at Rancho 3M Orphanage in Guadalupe, Mexico. I had found myself sitting in this cinderblock structure (the only blonde-hair, blue eyed girl for a solid 200 miles) on account of my parents. They had not just decided to merely move our entire family away from our hometown, but they had decided that as a family unit, we would trade our cushy, country club lifestyle to work in an impoverished area of Mexico, caring for children who had been abandoned. We all yearned to provide for them a hope and a future: a chance for an education. To be more than just street smart. To have their existence mean more than knowing which gang is better to commit their life to. My family desired for them to be book smart.
Free the Children is a charity that aims to develop a sustainable way for youth in third world countries to have access to basic rights such as food, shelter, and education. It empowers youth to join programs, help raise awareness, and create change for the less fortunate (Wingrove, 2010). The organization was created by Craig Kielburger in 1995 at the age of 12 with 11 classmates from school (Kielburger, 2006). Over the years Free the Children has been responsible for building over 650 schools in over 45 countries, and took in $15,683,212 in Canada alone during the 2009 fiscal year (“Results and Impacts”). Craig Kielburger exemplified extremely strong leadership qualities from a very young age, and continues to do so to this day. Along with his brother, Marc Kielburger, created a very strong set of principles that allows their organization to flourish. Craig Kielburger’s strong leadership qualities drive him to strive for revolutionary change and this directly results in the organizational success of Free the Children, which is admired worldwide.
Everyone deserves an education, but for some in the developing world, especially girls, it is hard to even get into a classroom, due to the opposition from those who believe a girl 's place is in the home, not the classroom. The 2013 documentary Girl Rising by Richard E. Robbins states, “There are 33 million less girls in primary school worldwide than boys.” Girl Rising tells the stories of nine girls varying in ages throughout the developing world who only want to learn or where school saved their lives. Richard E. Robbins the director of the film, uses famous celebrities to tell these stories in hope to reach people all over the world in order to raise awareness and money to girls’ educations worldwide. Mr. Robbins film produces a concerned or worried tone throughout the documentary which intrigued the viewer to pay full attention to the film. Mr. Robbins uses lots of textual strategies in the form of statistics and interesting facts, as well as audio strategies such as the celebrity
This group is amazing, they have taught local citizens predominately women to set up and wire solar panels (enough to power their complete college area), build parabolic chef-less cookers and use them cook enough food for 60 meals, twice a day. They collect enough water to last through 4 years of drought through the design of their roofing and college area. Their students have been invited across the world to train others similarly. They train members of the college who they expect to stay in the area, normally this means grandmothers and mothers.
Miller, Megan. “The Queen of Charity.” The Herald Sun (Melbourne), 13 August 2008. Web. 3 April 2010.
One of the most powerful women in the world is Oprah Gail Winfrey. Oprah is one of the richest businesswomen in the world, but she wasn’t always rich and successful. She had a very tough life growing up and didn’t have much money. She has always been a hard worker, and she had a passion for hosting and acting. Oprah is very good at what she does and that’s how she raised to the top of being one of the most influential women in the media.
Despite progress in recent years girls still suffer a lot of disadvantage in education systems. While gender equality in education remains a crucial issue for many countries women still account for two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population. Estimated thirty one million girls of primary school age and thirty four million girls of lower secondary school age were not enrolled in school in 2011. (http://www.UNICEF.org/education/bege-61657.html) Girls’ education is both an intrinsic right and a critical lever to reaching other development objectives says UNICEF. Girls’ education is important to the achievement of quality learning. Girls who have been educated are likely to marry later and to have smaller and healthier families. Educated women can recognize the importance of health care and know how to seek it for themselves and their children. Education helps girls and women to know their rights and to gain confidence to claim them. However, women’s literacy rates are significantly lower than men’s in most developing countries. UNICEF recognizes the opportunities provided through girls’ education and it supports governments in the reduction of gender discrimination through interventions at national, local and community levels aimed to empower girls. As we look towards 2015 and beyond, UNICEF continues to take a more transformative approach to girls’ educ...
Schools were established to teach students the means of survival in preparation for a global economy. Education’s major objective today is to help increase our economy and prepare our students for future jobs. However, the progress of our public school education system in the 21st century has declined over the years. Other countries have exceeded our American Education system, especially in the areas of reading and math. Poverty stricken areas and minorities are being deprived of receiving a good quality education. Instead, only the fortunate and the lucky students are able to receive a good education. Families apply for the lottery scholarship in hopes to be accepted to a charter school as the key for to receive a good quality education.
Herz K and Sperling G., What Works in Girls' Education: Evidence and Policies from the Developing World. New York, NY: Council on Foreign Relations. 2004. Print.