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Frustrated with just donating money to charities, Oprah Winfrey says she built a school for poor girls in South Africa to feel closer to the people she was trying to help.
"I really became frustrated with the fact that all I did was write cheque after cheque," she told Newsweek magazine. "At a certain point, you want to feel that connection."
Winfrey spent five years and US$40 million to build the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls outside Johannesburg. The school for 12 and 13-year-old girls has 28 buildings on 8.8ha and includes huge fireplaces in every building, a yoga studio, theatres and a beauty salon.
