Oprah Winfrey Donates $100,000 For Girls Education In Nigeria.

Oprah Winfrey is to donate $100,000 to the GEANCO Foundation which specializes in providing vital healthcare and education needs to girls in Nigeria.
Winfrey is joining her Selma and The Butler co-star, David Oyelowo to make an equally meaningful impact in the world off-screen as they did onscreen.
Winfrey will be honouring  Oyelowo and Oscar-nominated  Chiwetei Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave),  both involved with the foundation and coincidentally both British actors of Nigerian descent who have been friends since they were teenagers.

Oyelowo said his concern in helping improve the sexism, health and education standards in Nigeria has partly been fueled from watching the lives touched by Oprah, an influential woman whom he now calls a mother figure. While filming Disney’s upcoming Queen of Katwe with Lupita Nyong’o this year, Oyelowo visited the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa and has frequently discussed with her the importance of taking a hands-on approach in supporting marginalized women.
“I can’t afford to have been around her as much as I have and not take her example because it’s just an incredible example of what is possible when you look beyond yourself,” said Oyelowo of Winfrey.
The money from the Oprah Winfrey Foundation will transform two schools in Nigeria, sponsored by Ejiofor and Oyelowo, providing children with the proper learning supplies (computers, books, notebooks) and medicine. A portion of the funds will also be distributed to organizations directly working with the recovery of the rescued girls (who often come back traumatized and pregnant) from extremist group Boko Haram in Nigeria.
“I, of course, like a lot of people, was disturbed by the kidnapping of the girls in Chibok and the fact that this awful situation was very much around the idea of wanting girls in particular to not be educated,” said Oyelowo. “I think that’s basically an attempt at not just ruining those girl’s future but Nigeria’s future.”
The violent acts of Boko Haram sparked a national interest including the social media movement #BringBackOurGirls. The issue of sexism and marginalization of the vulnerable captured Oyelowo’s attention to want to make a difference in Nigeria where he lived for seven years.
“It’s a big subject for me this,” added Oyelowo. “Even in film for female directors and the way females are represented on film behind the camera. That kind of sexism is as bad as racism, but the thing about sexism is you’re talking about 50 percent of the population who are being marginalized in this way. It’s a hot button subject for me – the marginalization of women generally, but young girls specifically because they are still vulnerable.”