May 14th, 2008
Following in the footsteps of Oprah, Madonna plans on building a school for girls in Malawi.
Her lawyer said, “A task force of four prominent Malawians has already been formed to head the project which will be on the scale of what Oprah Winfrey has in South Africa. It is a multi-million dollar project and we will get the real costs in the next two weeks.”
This isn’t Madonna’s first philanthropic foray in Malawi. The pop star star is currently awaiting approval from the Malawi government to approve the adoption of her 2-year-old son David Banda.
It is expected that on Thursday the adoption will become official. Madonna has previous engagements and won’t be able to make the hearing, but David’s only surviving parent has endorsed the adoption.
November 9th, 2007 / Author: cwillett
Nomvuyo Mzamane, the former headmistress at Oprah Winfrey’s South African Leadership Academy for Girls denied that she knew about abuse at the school and that she attempted to cover up allegations of abuse.
On Monday, Oprah announced that Mzamane’s contract would not be renewed, after it was alleged that the headmistress and several other school officials had ignored student’s reports of abuse by a dorm matron.
Mzamane claims that she wasn’t aware of the abuse. “I did not and would never participate in such a coverup,” she said.
Dorm matron Tiny Virginia Makopo was arrested last week and charged with 13 counts of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury. She was freed on bail Monday.
October 29th, 2007 / Author: cwillett
When the Oprah Winfrey Leadership School opened in January of this year in South Africa, it was to provide a beacon of hope to young women with otherwise hopeless futures. However, with the uncovering of recent allegations of sexual and physical abuse, the project has been cast into an unfavorable light.
Thus, this Sunday, Oprah made the trek to the school to host an emergency meeting with parents. “I’ve disappointed you,” the chat queen reportedly told them. “I’m so sorry.”
While police and other authorities continue to investigate the matter, the Daily News is reporting that Oprah actually provided the students her personal contact information, including her private e-mail address and phone number, so they may contact her at any time.
