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    January 14, 2012

Oprah Celebrates First Graduates of South Africa Girls Academy

   VOA News
   Media mogul and iconic talk show host Oprah Winfrey (C) poses with
   students of her school's first graduating class at Henley On Klip,
   outside Johannesburg, January 14, 2012.
   Photo: Reuters
   Media mogul and iconic talk show host Oprah Winfrey (C) poses with
   students of her school's first graduating class at Henley On Klip,
   outside Johannesburg, January 14, 2012.

   Oprah Winfrey celebrated the first graduating class of her leadership
   academy for underprivileged girls in South Africa on Saturday.
   The media mogul and iconic U.S. talk show host opened her school for
   11- and 12-year-old girls five years ago in Henley On Klip, south of
   Johannesburg.
   The 28-building, village-style campus, features computer and science
   laboratories, a 600-seat theatre and a library.
   Seventy-two girls became the first beneficiaries of Winfrey's $40
   million investment in what she describes as the building of leaders for
   South Africa.
   During her address to graduates, Winfrey said that they were born in
   1994 as the government mandated separation of non-whites apartheid
   ended; she told them that they are free to soar.
   Each of the graduates will be attending universities around the world,
   pursuing many studies, including medicine and engineering.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

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