In 2000, the media superstar Oprah Winfrey promised recently retired Nelson Mandela, the first president of post-apartheid South Africa, it will build a first-class country boarding school for underprivileged girls. Her twin goal was to use the power of education to help poor young girls with exceptional promise for girls as well as myself, as a child, to realize their potential and change their lives, and, at the same time to prepare a strong cohort of new leaders who will contribute to the success of post-apartheid South Africa. To do this, Winfrey has built a $ 40 million dream school, spacious, thoughtfully designed and elegantly appointed, with great teachers, small classes, advanced equipment, and extensive grounds. In South Africa and in other places, the opening of an extraordinary school received a lot of attention, praise, and imitators, but also attracted considerable criticism. Some of the critics were shocked using so much money to create a so-chic place for so few children, when so much was in desperate need. Other Winfrey rebuked for failing to community-based approach, and for the separation of children from their homes and communities. Winfrey, confident in their model, were of course. The case allows students to consider a number of questions: what is the appropriate role of private philanthropy, how to think about a private allocation of resources in a poor country, what kind of school in the interests of the students and what schools in the best interest of the country. HKS Case Number 1930.0 "Hide
by Claire Applegarth, Laura Bacon, Alix Edwards, Keith Kennedy, Stella Schiffer, Yan Lin Source: Harvard Kennedy School 11 pages. Publication Date: July 29, 2010. Prod. #: HKS129-PDF-ENG