New parents Jolie and Pitt thank Namibia with donations

May 29, 2006, 15:31 GMT

Picture dated 26 January 2006 shows United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador, US actress Angelina Jolie (L) and her companion fellow actor Brad Pitt (R) during the World Economic Forum WEF in Davos, Switzerland. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt welcomed a baby girl into the world, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, on Saturday night according to Pitt\'s publicist. \'The night of May 27, 2006 in Namibia, Africa, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt welcomed their daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. No further information is being given,\' publicist Cindy Guagenti said in a statement. EPA/WALTER BIERI

Windhoek - A day after the birth of their daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have donated 300,000 dollars for the purchase of medical equipment for two state hospitals in Namibia.

Officials in the southern African desert country announced the contribution by the Hollywood glamour pair at a press briefing on Monday afternoon.

The funds would be used to refurbish hospitals in Walvis Bay - the district where Jolie gave birth in the early morning hours Sunday and another facility Swakopmund, deputy minister of environment and tourism, Leon Jooste told journalists.

The couple also pledged to provide a further 15,000 dollar donation to help a project school and community centre in Swakopmund, which they have visited since their arrival in the country in April.

'We want to contribute to Nambia and the people who have been so gracious to us at this time,' the two were quoted as saying.

Authorities in Namibia have gone to great lengths to secure the privacy of Pitt and Jolie, who became an item after staring in the spy drama 'Mr and Mrs Smith' and have been at the centre of intense international media interest.

Speculation that Jolie had planned to give birth to the couple's first biological child in the vast but sparsely populated country created unprecedented curiosity about the country among foreigners, particularly Americans.

But journalists, photographers and members of the public have been kept well away from the couple and their two adopted children, Maddox, 4 and 12-month-old Zahara by a screen along their beachside hotel and fierce bodyguards.