Oprah is at it Again: A Second School in Africa

Oprah has opened her 2^nd school for African children Friday morning. The school is in Shayamoya, South Africa outside the town of Kokstad in eastern KwaZulu-Natal province. The school is named The Seven Fountains Primary School and was funded by Oprah's Angel Network.

"The Seven Fountains School is an example of what schools in South Africa can become," Winfrey said outside the school at its dedication.

Oprah danced and sang with the teachers and children as they chanted "Long live Oprah, long live!" They seem to be very thankful for the opportunity and want to make sure Oprah knows it.

Oprah and her charity visited the school for the first time in 2002. The school was located on a farm and lacked a lot of the basic necessities for teaching children. The school had to move later on and was relocated to a building without windows, electricity, running water and minimal bathroom facilities.

On a follow-up visit in 2004, Oprah and the Angel Network decided to build a new school for the children.

"We thought the school you had before was not good enough, so we wanted to build the best school for you," she told the children Friday.

The school ended up costing $1.6 million dollars. It was designed to include all of the essentials and more. It contains over 25 class rooms, a library, computer room and playground and sports fields.

There is not a reliable source of water in the area so the school has a new system that recycles rain water and then uses the playground equipment such as seesaws and merry-go-rounds to pump the water. This is a very original and creative idea to keep the school with the basic supplies it needs.

"It can be done within the expectations of budgets. We used our imagination and creativity to build not only a good school but a great school," Winfrey said.

Principal Veliswa Mnukwa had nothing but good things to say about Winfrey, even calling her an "angel". "This is the second time you are visiting us, but now it is a very different school ... Nothing compares with what you have done for us," she said.

One of the parents said "Even as a parent I am going to participate here. There is a night school, a computer center and a library that we can use. I can't express my gratitude for Oprah. The old school was so miserable".

There have been many complaints from parents of her other school outside Johannesburg about not being able to see their children frequently enough.

"It was a nightmare," Frances Mans told the News24 Web site. "We had only two hours to see my child. Surely this isn't a prison?"

It is yet to be seen if Oprah's newest school will follow the same rules.

Sources:

News 24 (http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2084659,00.html)
Access Hollywood (http://www.accesshollywood.com/news/ah4499.shtml?dst=rss%7CLatest_rss)