国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

   

Oprah Winfrey opens school for girls in South Africa

(AP)
Updated: 2007-01-02 20:19

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa _ U.S. talk show queen Oprah Winfrey opened a world-class school for poor but talented South African girls Tuesday, fulfilling a long-cherished dream and a promise to her hero, Nelson Mandela.

"I wanted to give this opportunity to girls who had a light so bright that not even poverty could dim that light," Winfrey said, declaring that it was "the proudest, gravest day of my life."

Former President Mandela was invited to be among the dignitaries at the opening of the lavish Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in the small town of Henley-on-Klip, south of Johannesburg. He was among a string of international celebrities expected to attend _ though the list was kept secret and journalists were kept away from the guests.

The US$40 million (euro30.4 million) academy aims to give 152 girls from deprived backgrounds a quality education in a country where schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid.

Eventually the school will accommodate 450 girls.

Winfrey said at a press conference that she hoped that by educating girls she would help "change the face of a nation."

"Girls who are educated are less likely to get HIV/AIDS and in this country which has such a pandemic, we have to begin to change the pandemic," she said.

Many of the girls come from families affected by the disease which has infected 5.4 million of the 48 million population and hit women disproportionately hard.

Winfrey referred repeatedly to her own impoverished childhood and said she was grateful that she at least had a good education.

"I was a poor girl who grew up with my grandmother, like so many of these girls, with no water and electricity," said the talk show host, dressed in a shocking pink ball gown and jacket.

She vowed to make the academy the "best school in the world," and promised that she would continue to support the girls so they could attend any university in the world.

The idea for the school was born in 2000 at a meeting between Winfrey and anti-apartheid icon Mandela. She said she decided to build the academy in South Africa rather than the United States out of love and respect for Mandela and because of her own African roots.

She said she planned a second school for boys and girls in the eastern province of KwazuluNatal.

Built on 21 hectares (52 acres), the 28-building campus, which was originally to cost US$10 million, resembles a luxury hotel more than the rundown schools most of the girls know. It boasts state-of-the-art classrooms, computer and science laboratories, a library, theater and wellness center. Each girl has a two-bedroom suite.

Winfrey rejected suggestions that her school was elitist and unnecessarily luxurious.

"If you are surrounded by beautiful things and wonderful teachers who inspire you, that beauty brings out the beauty in you," she said.

She said she chose "every brick tile, sheet and spoon," and even lay in the beds to check on the right distance for the light switch.
12  


Top World News  
Today's Top News  
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
武平县| 土默特左旗| 嵊泗县| 荣昌县| 秦皇岛市| 通河县| 宜春市| 广州市| 丰都县| 合肥市| 嘉定区| 杭锦旗| 河北区| 博乐市| 紫阳县| 罗甸县| 随州市| 星子县| 牡丹江市| 克什克腾旗| 南木林县| 重庆市| 鄂州市| 尤溪县| 廊坊市| 赫章县| 丹江口市| 辛集市| 榕江县| 安国市| 延川县| 宣化县| 阜南县| 轮台县| 尉氏县| 沿河| 德江县| 尼勒克县| 遂溪县| 综艺| 安阳县|