God Bless St.Oprah Of Chicago...period!! This is exactly what WEALTH,INFLUENCE & POWER should be used for.It's a beautiful thing.Take notice "So-called" Ballas,Playaz,Dons,Bosses,Bling-wearing,car-collecting,bodygaurd having Celebs & New Money
Kats.Be remembered for making some type of noble contribution to this world.Other than making stupid videos & remarks about how much s*it you have.
Oprah Winfrey with girls from the first classes of the Leadership Academy for disadvantaged girls she has opened in Henley-on-Klip, South Africa, yesterday.
Oprah Winfrey opened her school for disadvantaged girls in South Africa yesterday with a tearjerking ribbon-cutting ceremony that capped a five-day, star-studded celebration with 200 of her celebrity pals.
"I wanted to give this opportunity to girls who had a light so bright that not even poverty could dim that light," Winfrey told reporters yesterday.
The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, in the small town of Henley-on-Klip, south of Johannesburg, is the result of a promise the talk show queen made to former South African President Nelson Mandela six years ago.
Mandela, 88, attended the opening and praised Winfrey for overcoming her own poverty-stricken childhood to become a benefactor to the disadvantaged throughout the world.
"There wasn't a dry eye during the ceremony," an insider told the Daily News. "Grown men were crying tears of joy and pride."
The $40 million academy aims to give 152 girls from deprived backgrounds - many of them from families decimated by AIDS - a free, quality education in a country where schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid. Eventually the school will accommodate 450 girls.
Winfrey's academy received 3,500 applications from across the country. To qualify, applicants had to show both academic and leadership potential and have a household income of no more than $787 a month.
"We had an opportunity to meet some of the girls in the school and they are amazing. Each girl was confident, articulate, poised and had a burning desire to learn," the insider told the News.
"These girls were not interested in video games, slutty clothes or using foul language. They were serious about education."
The 28-building campus boasts computer and science laboratories, a library and a theater along with a wellness center. Students call Winfrey "Mam Oprah."
In the five days before the opening, Winfrey hosted celebrations that included a black-tie ball, a safari, an afternoon tea and a campus tour.
Attendees included Winfrey's longtime boyfriend, Stedman Graham; best friend Gayle King, and a host of stars who included Sidney Poitier, Quincy Jones, Tina Turner, Spike Lee, Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Tyler Perry, Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Diane Sawyer, Kenneth (Babyface) Edmonds, Star Jones Reynolds, India.Arie and Holly Robinson Peete.
The week before Christmas, each guest received an elaborate invitation and itinerary. The guests paid their own way to South Africa, but once there, Winfrey rolled out the red carpet and picked up the tab for the more than 200 invitees.
Guests began checking into the five-star Palace Hotel in Sun City last Friday. They received a goody bag filled with a book written by Winfrey about the school, a pen, a program and African souvenirs, a source said.
After a welcome party on Friday, khaki-clad guests were treated to a safari Saturday. Later, they were escorted to tents housing a cigar bar, drinks bar, buffet and barbecue pit.
On New Year's Eve, Winfrey hosted a black-tie party featuring performances by Edmonds and Blige, who belted out "No More Drama," the source said. Guests feasted on lobster dishes, stuffed guinea fowl and a smorgasbord of delicacies.
By CHRISENA COLEMAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
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