Oprah Winfrey opened her second school for poor South African youth Friday, an innovative, environmentally friendly institution she hopes will be a model for public education.
Asecond school for poor South African youth Friday, an innovative, environmentally friendly institution she hopes will be a model for public education.
The Seven Fountains Primary School was funded by Oprah’s Angel Network, a public charity that supports organizations and projects focused on education and literacy.
Winfrey first visited the school in 2002 when it was located on a farm, bringing gifts, clothing, books and teacher-training materials for its 1,000 students and staff.
The school was later forced to move from the farm and relocated to a building with no windows, little electricity and running water, and only four toilets.
During a follow-up visit in 2004, the Angel Network committed itself to building a new school..
The $1.6 million school, which will be run by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education, has 25 classrooms, three multipurpose rooms, a library, computer center, landscaped playground and two sports fields.
The supply of water to the area is irregular, so the school has an innovative system that recycles rain water and uses seesaws and merry-go-rounds to pump water. It also uses solar power and has landscaped gardens that supply vegetables for school meals.
Winfrey opened her Leadership Academy for Girls outside Johannesburg to great fanfare on January 2.
