Stories
South Africa
Creating Schools Project: Model Approach to Building Schools
In remote areas of South Africa, getting a good education doesn’t come easy. Children, eager to learn, often must walk miles to school only to endure dilapidated classrooms that are hot in the summer and cold in the winter, many without water, electricity, libraries and playgrounds.
After visiting South Africa during its ChristmasKindness show in 2002, Oprah Winfrey and her staff saw firsthand these conditions across the country and decided to do something about it.
Donations from viewers poured in, and Oprah’s Angel Network began planning and consulting with community members to build the Seven Fountains Primary School in Kwa-Zulu Natal province as part of its Creating Schools Project. In 2007, with the help of local residents and the local department of education, the school opened its doors to 1000 students. It was the first of its kind, a school built by the community for the community, and designed in eco-friendly, innovative ways that could overcome resource constraints and a harsh climate.
The Seven Fountains Primary School was featured in the January 2009 issue of O: The Oprah Magazine, South Africa.
Read the article by Glynis Horning: Fountains of Hope
Two New Schools Planned
With the success of the Seven Fountains Primary School established, the Angel Network will now move forward with two new school projects, with construction scheduled to start in the spring of 2009.
The two schools—the Vele High School in Limpopo and the Lakeside Primary School in Vryheid—will implement the same innovative design that Durban-based design specialist East Coast Architects applied to Seven Fountains. Buildings are designed to maximize light and reduce noise, utilize renewable energy to help power the facilities and even use stored rainwater to flush the toilets when water supplies are strained.
- 25
Buys a school supply kit for a child, including all the essentials for a year such as pencils, notebooks and a backpack.
- 50
Buys all the textbooks a student will need for a year.
- 250
A generous donation will buy furniture for a classroom, including desks, tables and a blackboard.
Serving Students and Communities
“We’ve been struggling in order to get good facilities,” said Samuel Makhado, principal of Vele High School, “but at long last Oprah’s Angel Network came to the rescue.”
The new Vele High School will refurbish existing buildings and add several new ones. Upon completion, it will house 640 students in 16 classrooms. It will feature three science labs, a media center and, depending on the generosity of donors, a new sports field and nutrition center. At night, certain areas of the school will remain open so that adults can learn how to use computers and get skills training.
To the south in Vryheid, a growing, but impoverished community needs an entirely new school. The Lakeside Extension Primary School will house 960 students in 21 classrooms and offer a special needs program. Like Vele, it will also contain a media center and, if funding is sufficient, a sports field.
A particularly interesting feature of both schools is the community garden space, which will help feed the students and serve as an educational resource to learn about food production. Students will also use the school’s design as an educational opportunity, learning about the solar power panels in science and the reed bed filtration systems in geology.
Once the schools are constructed, teachers will receive additional skills training and support to make sure the schools get off on the right foot.
Both schools will cost approximately four million dollars. Oprah’s Angel Network is currently providing $750,000 for each school while the South African Department of Education is scheduled to furnish the remaining money.
- In just 5 minutes you can help by:
- IDEA 1: Donate to the Angel Network and help build schools in South Africa.
