A 2017 article described Oprah’s concern for how girls born into poverty could be helped to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. It seems reasonable to assume that her own struggles contributed to forming her compassionate mindset.
She worked so hard to create a career and a presence in the world, it would have been only fair to assume that life would be smooth sailing from then on. But no. For decades, the weight issue hung around her neck like an albatross, causing her to be disrespected and even ridiculed. It is totally understandable that her ambition would be to help girls and young women chart their paths into lives that would bring them wisdom, success, and peace of mind.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if adults could just dish out excellent advice and the young would unhesitatingly assimilate it? But to pass along wisdom is not that simple or easy. As Oprah said,
Every person has their own big questions that no one else can answer. One lesson I learned from all my years of interviewing is that the key to getting the answers you need lies in asking the right questions.
And nowhere is this more true than when a person questions herself! Some of the crucial queries are, “What makes you, you?” And, “Why does your presence on earth right here, right now, so truly matter?” Consequently, this leader created an institution where girls in grades 8 through 12 are given, along with a first-rate academic education, the opportunity to learn skills that will help them, their families, and their entire society — the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls.
Changing the world
In 2002, it started with a dream that materialized into a 52-acre campus in South Africa that includes 21 classrooms, a 600-seat theater, a 10,000-volume library, six laboratories, and very livable dorms whose design and fittings were supervised by the benefactor herself.
Each year, more than 6,000 hopeful candidates vie for the 60 places — meaning that only 1% of the applicants can be accepted. Oprah describes the student body as made up of individuals who possess resilience, courage, spirit, tenacity, charisma, and intelligence. OWLAG opened in 2007, and on the 10th anniversary, Malina Saval reported on it for Variety.com.
Up to that point, Oprah had invested $140 million in the school and its students. Saval wrote, “She pays for every sock, every uniform, every set of braces… When she visits, she spends at least a week on campus, conducting fireside chats with each student and teaching what she calls her Life Lessons 101 course. She is like a mother to these girls…”
The founder told the reporter, “When most girls come to my school they have suffered six major traumas on average… There was a time at the school during 2007, 2008, 2009, when we were losing a parent a week.” The reporter added, “Those same girls now attend top-tier universities… They’ve pursued post-doctorate degrees and secured prestigious jobs in major cities around the world.”
Rather than (like so many wealthy and successful people) turn her back and say, “I got mine, you go get yours,” Oprah Winfrey took her life experience, disappointments, aspirations, and ambitions as raw material and converted them into a powerful force for good. One final quotation from “Mom O”:
What poverty does is brainwashes you to believe that you are not enough. So what our school does is work at creating a foundation of worthiness. It’s a patriarchal environment, where they come from. Just being a girl makes you “less than.” I stand before them and tell them there is no bar, there is no ceiling. We’re not just going to crack the ceiling; it doesn’t exist.
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “What Oprah Knows for Sure About Life’s Big Questions,” Oprah.com, 12/12/17
Source: “Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls,” OprahFoundation.org, undated
Source: “Oprah Winfrey’s Leadership Academy for Girls Marks 10 Years,” Variety.com, 08/03/17
Image by U.S. Embassy South Africa/Public Domain
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