HENLEY-ON-KLIP, South Africa (AP) — Mpumi Nobiva
was raised by her grandmother in a neighborhood beset by poverty and crime
after her mother died of AIDS. Now one of the first to graduate from Oprah
Winfrey's school, she is headed to college in North Carolina.
Winfrey spent $40 million to give her girls a
campus with computer and science labs, a library and a wellness center. None
paid tuition. The students are high-achievers, often from communities where
schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid.
And as the South African school year nears its end,
all 72 members of the school's first graduating class have been accepted to
universities in South Africa or the United States. More than a dozen have
received full scholarships.
Winfrey told her students that when you teach a
girl, you teach a nation.
"The first class, my class, will prove
that," said Nobiva, 18, who will study visual and performing arts at
Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Winfrey will be at the school for graduation
ceremonies in January, school officials said Wednesday as students gathered to
reflect on their experiences over the last five years.
The school that has drawn sometimes harsh attention
because of the celebrity who founded it, and also because of early problems.
Students have been accused of being spoiled.
Allegations that a woman employed to care for the girls in their dormitory had
instead abused teens were the subject of headlines around the world. The woman
was acquitted last year.
Earlier this year, a newborn born to a student at
the school was found dead, again drawing international attention.
"Yes, we've had bad coverage," Nobiva
said. "But it has certainly made us stronger."
Winfrey, who has visited her school often, has
instilled a sense of purpose. On Wednesday, Nobiva's classmates — aspiring
doctors, accountants, engineers and lawyers — spoke of their plans to serve
their communities.
"You can imagine the impact of girls with that
insight going out into the universe," Nobiva said.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
