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Angelina Jolie Fights 4 Darfur Refugees.

When asked about her motives for Joining UNHCR in 2001, Angelina Jolie said, “We cannot close ourselves off from information and ignore the fact that millions of people are out there suffering. I honestly want to help. I don’t believe I feel differently from other people. I think we all want justice and equality, a chance for a life with meaning. All of us would like to believe that if we were in a bad situation, someone would help us.”

Angelina Jolie may have overestimated a lot of people in the world today by saying they too care about others. When you go online and read some of the publics comments of news of her with starving children in foreign lands, the comments often turned dreadfully vicious and cruel. Below many such articles were loads of comments, many of which accuse Angelina of only caring about trying to get herself some more publicity. The comments go on to say that she does not really care about the hungry and homeless, but only cares about her bank account. These are just a few of the hundreds of comments that I have seen. Clearly their ignorance played a role in those cruel comments. Ignorance breeds an insecurity that flows from weak minds like an uncontrolled eruption of verbal vomit trying to grasp the edges of an ever expanding universe and force them back into the confines of a small box.

Let’s dive deeper into some of her latest humanitarian work. In October 2, 2009
Angelina Jolie traveled to Damascus, Syria and met with countless Iraq refugees. She traveled there to try to bring the spotlight of news that often follows her to remind the world not to forget the plight of those among them who cannot go back home due to the anguish they suffered and their own country’s unsteadiness. She states that refugees cannot go home due to, “the severe trauma they experienced there, the uncertainty linked to the coming Iraqi elections, the security issues and the lack of basic services.” Then she continues, “They will, therefore, be in need of continued support from the international community.” The election she is referring to is scheduled to be held on January 16, 2010.

Angelina traveled to Syria representing not just herself but as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nation’s refugee agency, UNHCR. She traveled there with her lover Brad Pitt. This was not her first visit but second in two years. She traveled to Damascus poorest suburbs where two Iraqi families greeted her. She also visited Iraq three times to date. Her last trip to Iraq was in July of 2009, when she met with countless displaced Iraqis in northwest Baghdad.

She then took time to visit the Syrian President Bashar Assad and his wife, Asma to discuss the Iraqi refugee crisis in an attempt to enlighten him on the hopelessness that the refugees feel has enveloped them.

Why does Angelina believe it’s important to help the Iraqi refugees? Let’s get down to numbers. UNHCR estimates that more than 4.2 million Iraqis have ran away from their homes at the start of the fight back in 2003. Of those, 215,000 Iraqi refugees are signed up with UNHCR in Syria. Most of these refugees rely highly upon the food, water, medical and other support that UNHCR offers. The Coalition for International Justice found that 400,000 to 600,000 people have been killed and starved to death in the conflict at Darfur.

The work Angelina does for the refugees does not stop there. In 2007, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie set up a new Charity foundation, donating $1 million to help the families that were tragically affected by the fighting in Sudan’s Darfur region as well as in nearby Chad. Angelina is known for covering all her own costs while doing this work around the globe.

What is Angelina’s view on money? She said that she’s only driven to continue making movies by the money she earns, because she desperately needs the money for her charities. She states, “At the same time I know that by doing a film and making money and remaining in the public eye, I'm able to fund more programs and I'm able to bring more attention. So I know I have to do both.”

How serious is Angelina about her work to help poor and impoverished around the world? Well in 2007 when most Hollywood’s biggest starlets were flaunting their new designer cloths down the red carpet in hopes of an Oscar, Angelina traveled to Africa to check on the crisis in the Darfur region. Her goal, to raise awareness about the continuing atrocities in Darfur.

Truly Angelina lives up to the meaning of her name, an angel. Her continuing efforts to help the those whom the rest of the world has ignored, has inspired people around the world to join in with her. Because of her efforts, presidents feel the pressure of being under the spotlight of celebrity news, forcing them to take steps in making a positive change. Because of her efforts, the ill are receiving medical treatment, the hungry are being fed, the homeless are being housed, the abused and ill treated are temporarily safe and out of harms evil grasp.

In March 20, 2003 the US government claimed that they had evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that they posed a threat to the security of the US and its allies. The US went to war with Iraq over this issue, yet…there was no WMD present in Iraq…they were wrong! The dead and mutilated bodies of 450,000 human beings in Sudan obviously show more injustice than any that President Bush could identify in Iraq. The US had less reason to go to war in Iraq than they do currently in Sudan. Take a stand and stop the murders, the rapes the starvation today. Use your skills, whatever they be, to fight for them with words, with belief, with teaching.

Posted by scottcwaring on 2009-10-30 03:29:52 | Rating: