People News
Angelina Jolie's joyeux Noël with refugees
By Stone Martindale Dec 26, 2006, 16:52 GMT
United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie (L) and actor Brad Pitt (not in the picture) meet a Colombian refugee family, in San Jose, Costa Rica, on Monday, 25 December 2006. The actors spent Christmas Day with Colombian refugees in the Costa Rican capital. Costa Rica is the home for some 11,500 refugees, most of them Colombians. EPA/BORIS HEGER
Actorvist Angelina Jolie spent her Christmas day with refugees in Costa Rica as part of her work as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, known as the UNHCR.
Jolie arrived Monday and was to visit a group of refugee children and families and to meet Costa Rican officials, the UNHCR said in a statement. There are about 11,500 refugees in this Central American country, most of whom fled Colombia because of the conflict there between leftist guerrillas, soldiers and paramilitary forces.
"The conflict in Colombia is the greatest humanitarian tragedy in the Western Hemisphere, but it receives very little international attention,'' the Oscar-winning actress said after she arrived in San Jose. "My Christmas message to Colombian refugees and to the millions of displaced people in Colombia is that the world has not totally forgotten them.''
An estimated three million Colombians have been forced from their homes by more than two decades of armed conflict, and most are internally displaced, essentially refugees in their own country.
Another 500,000 have fled to other countries of the region. Together, the press statement said, they make up the largest single population of concern to UNHCR anywhere in the world.
"The best present we can give refugees is often a little more understanding and good will, not just at Christmas but all year long,'' she said.
UNHCR said this was Jolie's second trip to the region since she became a goodwill ambassador for the refugee agency in 2001.
COMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
'Harder and harder to defend her?!' What in hell does Angelina Jolie needed to be defended from the likes of you for?! She's loved and supported by her family, and admired and praised by the UN and the refugees that she assists and brings awareness to. Some sad jealous embittered poster weighing in on her personal beeswax which said person knows nothing about, is NOT to be taken seriously...
To this 'ME' poster - GET A GRIP ON REALITY & CALM DOWN! Read my comment AGAIN above before you go AWOL. It's the day after XMAS so relax a bit on here! There is absoultely nothing nasty in my Blog about JOLIE. I'm a Team Jolie Poster- for her NOT against her!! But I agree & most will, that Christmas is a special time for family especially Children. She & the kids were in India for a few months & then came back shortly, only to have her go to Costa Rica for Christmas?? YES It is for a good cause & UN Charity. But couldn't she have gone to Costa Rica after XMAS? YES it is hard DEFENDING HER ON THIS ONE! I think New Year's Day would have been better as opposed to a more traditional family day as Christmas? Well only Angelina & the UN know why she had to go. But for sure, most people will agree with me on this one.~ Team Jolie Fan
Angelina, I have a lot of respect for your efforts in helping refugees and I would like to offer some information on refugee shelter systems. With your position within the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office this information may help on many fronts. These websites offer considerable information on low cost shelter solutions:
Information Websites
– HexaYurt and support systems http://howtolivewiki.com/hexayurt
– Movies on setting up HexaYurt and support systems http://youtube.com - search for HexaYurt
– Integrated Disaster Response Demonstration – STRONG ANGEL III http://www.strongangel3.org
– Sustainable Settlements Charrette: Rethinking Encampments for Refugees and Displaced Populations http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid560.php
• Manufacturing Points of Contact
– Insulation Panels: Steve Harasim, harasim@dow.com
– Hexacomb: Mark Jacobson, mjacobson@pregis.com
– Stoves: James Becker, webAdmin@spenton.net,
Tim Taylor, taylorwoodgas@cox.net
– SleepBreeze Cooler: Andy Buxton, acbuxton@btinternet.com
– Biolet Composting Toilet: Peter Andersson, peterandersson@biolet.com
I hope this will enable you to help the thousands of people that are displaced throughout the world.
Just in case anyone still looks at this posting. The Sleepbreeze personal cooler is now on the market - checkout the www.sleepbreeze.co.uk site for details and make a purchase.
Michael, who first mentioned Sleepbreeze on this site, is quite right that it is applicable to refugee scenarios. We regularly display the cooler at TIDES events, for example the recent FAHUM exercise in El Salvador. We got some fantastic feedback on how the cooler performed which we put on the 'BreezeBlog' on our site. We also got good results in Melbourne during a heatwave and Thailand during a powercut.
It'd be wrong, however, to think of it exclusively as a cooler for when the power is in short supply. A lot of people would find it useful around the home. For example, professional nannies and moms-to-be are currently raving about it.
All the best, Andy
page: 1
KrazyDec 27th, 2006 - 04:06:16
I love Jolie, Pitt & their family! Angelina is living the example of a good humanitarian. HOWEVER I think it would have been nice for Jolie to have spent Christmas Day at home with her's & Brad's parents! Costa Rica could have waited until after the New Year! Jolie has a big family NOW & parents on both sides should have gotten equality time with HER, BRAD & THE CHILDREN.....NOT JUST BRAD & THE KIDS ALONE!
C'mon Angie, I like your style girl & am a Team Jolie fan - but it's getting harder & harder to defend you.
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