Oprah Winfrey to Play Santa to African Kids  12/3/05

Oprah Winfrey is planning a trip to Africa next week (beg05DEC05) to make sure kids there have gifts at Christmas.

The generous media mogul has been spurred on by a memory she has of three nuns providing her family with gifts on Christmas Eve when they were struggling and now she wants to make sure the poorest kids in Africa can celebrate Christmas.

Winfrey recalls her mother decided to cancel Christmas when Oprah was 12 because the family had no money.

She says, "That night, around midnight, we were awakened by three nuns who came to the door with food - a turkey, a basket, some fruit, a Tammy doll for me.

"I was relieved because I was thinking, 'What is my story gonna be..? What am I gonna tell the rest of the kids,' because Christmas is all about getting up the next morning and going out in the yard and, 'What did you get, what did you get?' and I was relieved that I wasn't gonna have to make up a story.

"I never forgot that with those nuns and when I was walking around my property in California just thinking about what I wanted to do for Christmas, I thought about that Christmas and wanted to do that for kids.

"I'm going back to Africa to do the same thing for those kids."