Oprah opens South African school for disadvantaged girls

Oprah opens South African school for disadvantaged girls

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Henley-on-Klip, South Africa, was built with a $40-million US donation by Winfrey.

Winfrey said she was grateful that she had an opportunity for a good education and welcomed the chance to see bright young women develop into leadership roles in South Africa.

She hailed the attitudes of many of the 11- and 12-year-old girls she interviewed personally before accepting them to the school, saying they seem to value education in a way that North American children no longer do.

Oprah’s school for girls opens Tuesday

Oprah Winfrey’s $40 Million School to Open

Winfrey, who devoted five years to creating the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls outside Johannesburg, also said of the assistance she has given at home, “I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn’t there.”

In America, she says, “If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don’t ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school.”

Winfrey has called the Leadership Academy “the fulfillment of my work on earth.”