What a privilege to have been welcomed at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls this past week! I know that our entire group felt so happy and honored to be given the rare opportunity to visit this world famous school and to interact with the amazing faculty, staff and students.
The visit was all that we had imagined and more. Our host, Headmistress Anne Van Zyl, was most gracious and spent the first part of the visit giving us a short orientation and history of the school. We had a most enjoyable discussion about our common missions as educators of girls and also about the unique challenges faced by OWLAG as the first school of its kind. We were, of course, fascinated to learn more about the racial and cultural diversity of the students and how it is a huge challenge to bring these students together in a boarding school environment that is so radically different from anything they have ever experienced. I think that we could have listened to Ms. Van Zyl for hours as it was all so interesting!
Another thing that struck us from the moment that we entered the school was the beautiful and colorful art work - all from South Africa. If we hadn't known that we were in a school, we surely would have thought that we were in a museum. How wonderful that the school has showcased local art in this way - It makes for a truly unique and warm learning environment that would be a dream fulfilled for any girl.
One of the most beautiful and peaceful places in the school is the library. All must remove their shoes before entering this special space. It was nice to see students studying and gathered with friends in the library. In fact, the little lounges and round spaces built just for girls reminded us of our new FFC building back home in Dallas.
As with all schools, the best thing was meeting the students and learning about school life from their perspective. We were lucky to have two delightful student representatives, Lebo and Zoowa, give us a school tour. They are the same age as our senior students and this is their final year at OWLAG. As they showed us around campus they expressed how grateful they are for their education. They told us that they have recently been helping out with the monumental task of testing the student applicants for next year and that their hearts really go out to all of the young students trying to attend OWLAG. We were later astounded to learn that over 10,000 girls are applying for 60 Grade 7 positions. What a difficult and heart-wrenching task it must be to make those selections!
Even though our time at this extraordinary school was short, we were greatly impacted by the dedication of the administration, faculty and students. All are working so hard to ensure the success of every girl. It will be wonderful to follow the progress of this young school and of the young women who are being formed for leadership in our world (another common mission). Thank you so much to all at OWLAG for opening your door and hearts to us!
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| A beautiful hanging quilt in the Administration building |
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| The Movie / DVD section of the Library |
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| The Performing Arts Building |
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| The Lovely Library |
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| Our Ursuline USA Delegation with Headmistress Van Zyl. |
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| Girls studying together in the library - love that! |
My daughter Nokukhanya Ndaba was one of the gilrs who wrote a test at the University of Pretoria in Groenkloof on Saturday the 16/03/12. Reading great things like these makes me pray even more that she gets in. Thank you Oprah for creating such a great opportunity for a South African girl child.
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