Oprah to Open School in Africa

The International Herald Tribune reports that talk show celebrity Oprah Winfrey will open her school for girls in South Africa on Tuesday, upholding a promise she made to President Nelson Mandela six years ago. The school will help 152 poor South African girls get an education.

Oprah claims she wanted to build her own school because she was tired of performing charity from a distance. At the opening of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Henley-on-Klip, just south of Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela and many celebrities will be present. The guest list, however, is secret.

Winfrey's school will allow underprivileged girls who are trying to overcome apartheid receive a quality education. In recent years, there have been concerns about the declining standards of South Africa's school system with the education department stating last week that the schools' matriculation exam passing rate had dropped for the third consecutive year. According to current statistics, two-thirds of the 1,667,000 children who started school 12 years ago dropped out, and only five percent of the total were eligible to go to a university.

The girls who will attend Winfrey's 28-building academy will have to exemplify both academic and leadership qualities and have a household income of no more than 5,000 rands, which is equivalent to $787 in U.S. dollars. The school will eventually expand to educate 450 girls.

Oprah's school will contain state-of-the-art classrooms, computer and science labs, a library, theater and a wellness center. It is reported to have cost $40 Million.

Of the girls Oprah has interviewed for the application at the school, the talk show queen stated, "These girls deserve to be surrounded by beauty, and beauty does inspire...I wanted this to be a place of honor for them because these girls have never been treated with kindness. They've never been told they are pretty or have wonderful dimples. I wanted to hear those things as a child."