India, Oct. 24 -- Most of us have made a big promise and then let it slip. Oprah Winfrey did the opposite. As the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation tells it, in 2002 she told former South African President Nelson Mandela that she would build a school for girls in his country, and she did. It has educated more than 1,000 young women since then.

The plan began during a stay at Mandela's home. The foundation says the two were talking about how to fight poverty when Winfrey shared her belief that education levels the playing field. She also said she wanted to someday build a school for girls in the country. Mandela wasted no time springing into action to help make that day come sooner, and the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls ope...