Friday, August 25, 2006

Say What You Will

Say what you will, but Oprah Winfrey gets stuff done! This woman amazes me. Oprah's name is synonymous with spontaneous tears to me so much of the time. Case in point, her school for girls in South Africa.

I remember when she went all over So Africa to give out gifts to kids during the Christmas holidays years ago. I remember bringing my family to the TV to watch the show with me. While I cried again, seeing it for the second or third time, I wanted my girls to see how great it is to give and how little it took to make a difference in the lives of those kids. Kids who could not go to school for lack of a uniform, were given uniforms, backpacks, school supplies, shoes, and dolls that looked like they did. It was one of the most moving pieces of TV I had ever seen. One woman with a bazillion dollars made such a difference.

There are lots of people in this world with money, some or a lot, who give generously. There are way more who do not. In Oprah's case, she is in the enviable position to see where her money goes and to direct it to where it needs to be.

I just watched a video clip on CNN of Oprah's new school. She interviewed all the students herself. They had to be underprivileged and have above average grades. All the kids were brought to the school in typical Oprah style, under false pretenses. She then told the 150 girls on the stage that they would be the first students accepted into the Oprah Winfrey School for Girls. The girls jumped up and down, their families in the audience were thrilled, I cried. Tears streaming down my face crying. It was just such a magical thing to watch.

I am thankful that there is an Oprah Winfrey in this world. I am also happy she is not a politician. She can get a lot more done in the private sector. Although, we could use some smart, kind, generous, loving, caring, hard working, HONEST, promise keeping public officials in this country. Unfortunately, I believe they broke the mold when Oprah was created. Wow, what a woman.

6 comments:

A Flowered Purse said...

i have never seen that Episode, I would love to see the one where she goes to africa!!!
She truly does get stuff done and is a kind spirit and she knows herself inside and out!
have a great weekend
Love
dianna

Carie said...

I remember the one where she went to the school for rape victims in Africa, both girls and boys, and she redid all the rooms and bought all the supplies and did so much...but mostly she listened to the kids, sat with them, held them and comforted them...it was amazing, gotta love someone who cares so much

Dr. Deb said...

Oprah is truly an amazing person!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

for_the_lonely said...

I remember when she gave all of the girls little wallets stuffed with $100.00 bills...and that many families do not even make that in a year. I cried my eyes out too. I missed the show where she introduced all of the girls to their new school, but man, this post had me tearing up !LOL

Love you much,
Sarah

Carie said...

I am watching it right now...she is giving houses out to the Katrina victims...amazing...Angel Lane is where they live now, wow, to see their faces, the love, the pride, the healing...shes amazing

zbjernak said...

is amazing how 1 ppl can change the world...
if only all rich ppl are like oprah/gates/buffet

well not neccessary we must be rich to help the society,
as long as we are able to, we could help those indeeds...

have you heard of http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/master.nsf/home/
i am one of their sponsor...
you can help to...

cheers nancy!