SARAJEVO (AFP) – Film stars Angelina Jolie and her husband Brad Pitt flew into Bosnia on a surprise visit to meet refugees still suffering from the Balkan country’s brutal 1992-1995 civil war, an official said on Monday.
“They are in Bosnia to visit the sites run by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),” local UNHCR spokeswoman Aida Prljaca told AFP.
Jolie and Pitt have not been seen in public since Bosnian border police announced that a famous Hollywood couple had arrived late Sunday.
Prljaca said the couple’s visit to Bosnia would be discreet, without any contact with media, and that the UNHCR would likely issue a statement later in the day.
Dozens of photographers staked out the luxury Hotel Europe in the centre of the Bosnian capital overnight Sunday, said an AFP photographer.
The couple flew into Sarajevo from Venice, where Jolie is working alongside Johnny Depp on the film “The Tourist”, which is loosely based on the French mystery “Anthony Zimmer”.
Its director is Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who was behind the critically acclaimed 2007 German film “The Lives of Others”.
School funded by Angelina Jolie benefits girls in eastern Afghanistan
TANGI, Afghanistan, March 15 (UNHCR) – There were celebrations in Tangi last week when a new primary school for girls was opened barely 18 months after Angelina Jolie visited the settlement for refugee returnees and expressed concern about the lack of basic education facilities for children.
The popular UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador provided US$75,000 to build the school in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, which was inaugurated on Thursday in time for the start of the school year next Monday. Featuring eight classrooms, four administration buildings, a well and eight latrines, the school can accommodate up to 800 girls in two shifts.
It has been welcomed by parents who are reluctant, for cultural reasons, to send their daughters to schools used by boys. School classrooms built two years ago by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provide a primary education for more than 1,300 students, with boys attending in the morning and girls in the afternoon.
But this arrangement was not satisfactory for most parents while the available facilities were inadequate to meet the needs of the growing settlement.
Laila, an outgoing 14-year-old whose family returned to Afghanistan from neighbouring Pakistan in 2008, is among those who will benefit from the new school. “I always had hopes and dreams of going to school,” said Laila, adding that “the hope to become a qualified teacher has revived in me.”
Hakima, also aged 14, has been studying at the existing school, but she explained that her education was being threatened by the lack of facilities. “The school we are presently studying in does not have enough classrooms . . . six of our classes are studying in tents.” she said, adding: “Because of the cultural constraints and security concerns, I had decided not to continue.”
Iqbal Azizi, head of the provincial education department, said Jolie gift was very important because it was ensuring a brighter future for many girls in Tangi who “otherwise would have been deprived of education in the absence of a primary school building.”
There are three settlements at Tangi, gathering some 7,800 people (1,300 families) who have returned from Pakistan over the past five years. Most are originally from Kunar province, but after years in exile they had lost social networks and support systems as well as property in their villages.
They are starting afresh in Nangarhar with the help of UNHCR, other humanitarian agencies and the local authorities, who have provided basic needs like shelter, water and education facilities.
Meanwhile, Laila’s father, Ustad, who worked as a teacher in Pakistan, said the new all-girls’ school was an important step in the rebuilding of his country. “This is what we needed here and I believe there is a need for every community if we want to build the future of our country – to build schools and get education,” he said at the opening ceremony, which was attended by senior UNHCR officials.
UNHCR has been liaising with UNICEF and local education authorities to recruit female teachers and ensure the provision of textbooks. And there are plans to provide secondary education for girls at the new school. Currently, only two girls in Tangi attend high school, which is located 10 kilometres away.
By Mohammed Nader Farhad in Tangi, Afghanistan
More read UNHCR
>Angelina Jolie most impressive person.but it’s not First time.
plz watch this.
Nov 10: Far from the glitz of the red carpet, actress Angelina Jolie can be found leaving an impact in Kenya. She sponsors a boarding school for girls, who would otherwise have no chance of an education. NBC’s Martin Fletcher reports.
>No matter what people say, Angelina Jolie is most beautiful inside and out.
intelligent. Big heart. She is my HERO.
She never forget any refugees,even working time for so hard.
Angelina Jolie arrives at LAX airport in Los Angeles on Thursday (February 11) after a trip to Haiti.
The 34-year-old actress was greeted by a bodyguard as she left the terminal at the airport.
While spending time in Haiti as a goodwill ambassador for the UN, Angelina met with President Rene Preval “about challenges confronting the country since the disaster,” according to the UKPA, and visited a camp for Haitians who’d lost their homes. justjared report
>Thanks Hard work,Angelina.
Please take a rest with the family.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, February 9 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie arrived on Tuesday in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, where she visited earthquake survivors and met aid workers from local and international organizations.
Jolie, who said she was in Haiti to “listen and to learn,” visited medical centres, the UN mission and met with vulnerable children. On her arrival in the Haitian capital, Jolie was briefed by the United Nations Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General Edmond Mulet on the scale of the humanitarian operation to date and the challenges that remain.
She also visited a cash-for-work programme run by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in the Carrefour district of Port-au-Prince, which is enabling Haitians to earn an income as they help their country to recover. “To give people the ability to work towards their own future is so important at this time. It helps to restore their hope and respects their dignity,” said Jolie.
The programme is assisting some 40,000 people with an aim of reaching more than 400,000. She commended the participants who told her they were happy to clean up their country and then sang her a song about Haitian pride.
In the Santo area of Port-au-Prince, Jolie visited SOS Children’s Villages, a worldwide programme to raise children inside their own countries. Since the earthquake, the organization has begun providing additional care for children who have been newly orphaned or who have lost contact with their parents as a result of the catastrophe. SOS is working to reunite children with their family members and will continue to care for those without any caregivers.
Jolie applauded their work, while stressing that “new adoptions should definitely not be encouraged as an immediate response to the emergency. Haiti had many trafficking problems before the earthquake and now must keep a very close watch on the children. I would encourage as much support as possible to groups like SOS and UNICEF providing care for children in country.”
The acclaimed actress also visited a tented hospital set up and run by UNHCR partner, Médecins Sans Frontières, in the commune of Delmas, also in Port-au-Prince. “I was struck by the strength and spirit of the Haitian people. Children as young as nine months old were coping with amputations with extraordinary resilience. I even met a little 10-year-old boy who had recently had his leg amputated, who was giggling to himself about a silly book as he sat on the floor,” Jolie revealed.
“These doctors are extraordinary,” she said. “For all the patients that had to have amputations there are also a high number of limbs and lives that the doctors have managed to save.”
“It will take years to rebuild Haiti,” Jolie said, after seeing the devastation from the January 12 earthquake. “Every day, the UN, governments, NGOs and local organizations are providing more people with protection, food, water, shelter and health care, yet the needs are still enormous and the displacement could last a decade.
“Providing adequate shelter to the displaced is of paramount importance, especially as the upcoming rainy season threatens to add to the devastation. Everyone is bracing themselves for a second wave of tragedy.”
Before arriving in Haiti, Jolie spent a day in the Dominican Republic, where she visited Haitian earthquake victims in the local public hospital and in nearby shelters. “I was heartened to see the care being provided by Dominican doctors and nurses and to witness the generosity of local society, which is caring for discharged patients and their families in their recovery,” she said.
Angelina Jolie has reportedly gone to the Dominican Republic to visit with hospitalized victims of the January 12 earthquake in neighboring Haiti.
The Associated Press reports that the star toured Dario Contreras Hospital in Santo Domingo. A rep for the hospital told the AP that Jolie “spoke with several children and a Haitian woman who recognized her and requested help.”
Just yesterday, Jolie was spotted in Miami with partner Brad Pitt at the Super Bowl game.
and more reported
Angelina Jolie is embarking on another field mission for The UN Refugee Agency.
UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic told the Associated Press that the star is spreading her motherly love to the devastated country of Haiti today. Due to security concerns related to the high profile star, no further details were released.
After taking in the Super Bowl in Miami with Brad Pitt and son Maddox on Sunday, Jolie traveled to the Dominican Republic to visit hospitalized Haitian earthquake victims, a rep told the AP.
Since establishing her involvement with the organization in 2001, the philanthropic actress has visited countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kenya, and Pakistan.
there is more photo of Angelina and Brad visited SOS children’s Village from Jastjared.
“Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt visit a SOS Children’s Village in Amman, Jordan on October 1.
The couple visited Jordan by invitation of Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, who is Honorary Chairman of SOS Children’s Villages Jordan.
“The SOS villages are one of the best solutions for widows and orphaned children as they are still in a family setting within their own country,” Brad and Angie tell JustJared.com. “We hope more people learn about their programs and give them support.”
You can join Brad and Angie in sponsoring a child of SOS Children’s Villages at SOS-USA.org. ”
