I watched Oprah’s special on ABC called “Building a Dream”. It was great. There is an encore telecast of this special once again on Sat March 3rd at 8:00PM and I would recommend all parents watching it with their children. It will make them want to study.

The stories of all the girls are incredibly inspiring. These kids are wise beyond their age. These kids know that education is their only way out of the dire conditions they live in. Many of the girls walk through extremely unsafe streets just to get to a bus-stop. Most have no running water or electricity. In spite of all these odds these girls are working hard in school to be the best. I was so moved by their courage and dedication.

There were two sisters in the group who had witnessed their mother being shot by their father and then the father shooting himself when they were only five and six years old. These girls still say they love their parents and support one another. They dream of a better future for themselves and work hard in school to achieve it. There was another girl whose mother abandoned her when she was just four years old. This girls eyes well up with tears when she talks about being abandoned; I could feel her pain. She is raised by her father and she perseveres everyday in school to be number one. The determination in this girl is great.This young girl was telling her peers that to be a leader you must “blend out” not “blend in”; incredible wisdom for a little girl.

All the personal stories of these girls was gut wrenching. The common traits among all these girls was incredible courage, enormous hope, and gratitude. Our children (in the USA) have all amenities to study but they always whine to buy things their peers have form I-pods to X-Box. They take almost everything for granted. Gratitude for things they do have is scarce. The media corrupts their mind by feeding their minds with more and more wants. Our children have no idea about how children their age struggle in other countries.

One of the girls who lost her mother to AIDS said, “I loved my mother. I miss her but I know God has his reasons.” This girl is so resilient in the face of such tragedy that she wants to study hard to become a doctor and find a cure for AIDS. She is able to channel her immense grief in a positive direction. One more standout quality in all these girls is how spiritual they all were.

Our media coverage of Africa is only about the famines and civil wars. These facts to require the world’s attention but when that is the only thing covered, it creates a perception that Africa is a continent where people are barbaric to fight amongst themselves and deprived of even basic needs like food and water. Yes, there is famine and civil wars but that is the only thing happening in Africa. The Oprah special on ABC showed me the hopeful side of Africa.The media portrays this place to be hopeless but anyone who saw the special ( or will see it on March 3rd ) will drive that notion from their mind totally.

Oprah’s Leadership Academy is a place where the hope and dreams of these amazing girls are given a chance to be realized. There was one girl who asked Oprah, “Am I good enough to be in this school?: Oprah was moved by this girls courage and said that it is the number one question we ask ourselves all the time but this girl had the courage to put that fear/doubt in the open.

My previous views on Africa were very much fed by the media and like many I felt it was a doomed continent. The special made me see that there is hope for a very bright future in the continent. The drive in these young girls convinced me that they have the power to transform their nation and the world. I am rooting for these kids to succeed and move their countries into a very bright future. Oprah is confident they can; I feel the same.

I admire Oprah tremendously for building this school in South Africa. She did take some heat for building a school there instead of here in the USA. She is a great philanthropist and she has done a lot in this country. America is a developed/rich country; the government can afford to build more schools or raise the quality by just wanting to do so. Oprah’s philanthropy makes a difference here but in South Africa it has the potential to transform the future. I applaud all the great work she does but building this school is probably her greatest achievement.

In the end Oprah said to the girls, ” I thought I was giving this school to you but you have give me so much more, so much more. Thank You.” It was very emotional and I could feel how proud and happy she was for accomplishing this dream. She was like a mother to all these girls and they felt her warmth. She had an amazing connection with everyone of them.

In essence Oprah is a great humanitarian.