Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Graduation Special

Special about the first graduating class will air Sunday on OWN

The First Graduating Class: Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy

The first class of girls at Oprah Winfrey’s school in South Africa graduated in January, and a special chronicling those girls' years at the school, “The First Graduating Class: Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls,” will air Oct. 14 on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. The special follows the 72 girls from the age of 12 or 13, when they left their homes and families to pursue an education.

“This journey began as a dream to build a school for girls in South Africa,” said Oprah Winfrey. “I have an especially close connection to this first graduating class. I hand-picked each of them. I can see who they are, where they came from and the potential of who they can be.  To create a school that is able to change the trajectory of these students’ lives has been one of the greatest gifts of my life.”

Winfrey first decided to build a school over a decade ago, when she told Nelson Mandela that she saw education for girls as a way to eradicate poverty. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls opened in Meyerton, South Africa in January 2007. 

[READ MORE: OPRAH'S SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOL GRADUATES FIRST ROUND OF STUDENTS]