Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Abuse at Oprah's school

Since many moons ago I expressed myself impressed (and later reported misgivings) with Oprah Winfrey's building of a school for girls to encourage leadership in South Africa, it's incumbent on me to take note of the allegations that at least one of the matrons at the school has been accused of fondling girls inappropriately and maybe having sex with others. Guess that's always a danger in a boarding school, and it seems Oprah herself didn't know about it and acted fairly quickly and appropriately when the evidence came out. But she's learning that good intentions can often be subverted. I suspect she's a good enough manager to put better control mechanisms in place, but the project has undoubtedly been harmed. It's tough to manage things from across the ocean.

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