Angelina Jolie takes a few moments out…
…of her time in Namibia yesterday to talk to the press about the importance of education in developing countries. Via Yahoo! News:
Tags: Angelina Jolie, Angelina Jolie Pictures, angelina-jolie.-global-campaign-for-education, United NationsHeavily-pregnant Hollywood star Angelina Jolie broke her silence on Wednesday from her African hideaway, but she wasn’t talking babies or Brad Pitt.
Jolie, whose trip to Namibia has sparked a blaze of interest in the international media, took time to promote one of her favorite causes: boosting educational opportunities for the world’s poor.
Talking to reporters in a teleconference with British finance minister Gordon Brown, Jolie said it was time for the world to get behind the Global Campaign for Education, a new plan aimed at giving 100 million children in poor countries the chance to go to school.
“I’m just thrilled to have this opportunity to help bring this to the forefront of peoples’ minds this week… It is a rare occasion that I am really thanking the press,” said Jolie.
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POSTED IN: Angelina Jolie, Angelina Jolie Pictures, United Nations
13 opinions for Angelina Jolie takes a few moments out…
Marie
Apr 27, 2006 at 6:01 am
I saw part of the interview between Angelina Jolie and Ann Curry on the Today Show (full interview on Dateline, Sunday). I thought Angelina was absolutely glowing! She is obviously VERY HAPPY and at times couldn’t stop giggling…she said it’s the pregnancy hormones…I think she is just bursting with happiness.
What did eberyone else think? I look forward to seeing the entire interview on Sunday.
I am not so sure though that I liked her dismissal of the “education problem” in her own home (U.S.). It seems that she feels Britain is more her own home than America. She talked with distaste about America while emphasizing that Britain puts more money in education than the U.S.
Interesting?
geri
Apr 27, 2006 at 6:29 am
love the clan!!!
i just read something interesting earlier from an online fashion mag, but i think its old news —
“Tom Cruise is hoping his and Katie Holmes’s new baby will become friends with Brad and Angelina’s new addition to their family as soon as they are born. The babies are due just weeks apart, and Tom reportedly wants his child to have “playdates” with Brad and Ange’s new tot. Brad and Tom have been friends since they worked together on Interview with the Vampire over 10 years ago.”
whatchatink?!!
JoliePittFan
Apr 27, 2006 at 7:01 am
It was wonderful. Like Marie said, she was glowing. I love her ease at speaking about, and her knowledge of the subject matter. I didn’t get her as having distaste with this country. I took it as her pointing out that we can do more when compared to country’s who ARE doing more yet have less than us.
It’s interesting that not until recently have Americans even really questioned a deficit caused by the Irag war and which has exploded into the highest amount in our history. I heard last week on NPR that if the report were to be paid off this year, it would require “each” US citizen to pay $30,000.00 “on top of their normal tax bill!
I think of all those trillions of dollars that could have been put to so much better use right here in the US, as well as of assistance in country’s where it could help provide a way to more independence, more self sufficency, and less dependence on other countries. It’s sad that declaring war on a foreign country in hopes of reshaping it is easier to swallow than being asked for monetary assistance for education, medicine or even food.
I don’t consider myself a pacifist, and in fact I’m a military brat, but I would much rather my tax dollars go to the education of those who might not get one any other way, than to what it’s being used for. JMHO
Marie
Apr 27, 2006 at 7:21 am
Here, Here JoliePitt Fan…education is the foundation for a better life!!
Bethany
Apr 27, 2006 at 8:39 am
So I just watched Angie on The Today Show. I was soo good,she talked about giving kids education and you could tell she knew what she was talking about, she knows her facts. Then Ann asked her about her pregnancy, and if she knows the sex and everything, her face just lit up, she was glowing. Then Ann said that Holly told her that she giggles alot now, then angie said it’s hormones, and even brad has noticed it, then she started laughing, it was soo cute
Bethany
Apr 27, 2006 at 8:39 am
Here’s the transcript of the clip they showed on The Today Show
Jolie on Birth: ‘I’m Ready for Anything’
Thursday Apr 27, 2006 8:55am EST
Blaming her hormones on the fact she can’t stop giggling, Angelina Jolie addressed the serious topic of Global Education Week on Thursday’s Today, in a segment that was taped in the African nation of Namibia – which interviewer Ann Curry described as “the edge of nowhere.”
While the topic of helping the world’s children go to school was the focus of the sit-down, Curry did bring up how Jolie and Pitt are awaiting the birth of their child, intimating that Namibia might be a strange place to have it.
“We just don’t know where it’s going to happen or where it’s going to be,” Jolie conceded.
When Curry asked if there’s a doctor nearby, Jolie replied, “We’ve been smart about it. Things will be as they will be. I’m ready for anything.”
And the gender of the child? “I’d like to keep that to myself,” said Jolie, who proved outspoken when it came to the subject of schooling for the world’s poor.
“The lack of education causes death,” she said. “More children die under the age of five when parents are not educated, More people get AIDS when they haven’t had an education. Statistics prove that if every child was in school every year, 700,000 less people would get AIDS.”
As spokesperson for Global Education Week, Jolie takes a personal interest in the subject partly because her own two children – Maddox, 4, from Cambodia, and Zahara, 1, from Ethiopia – likely would have lacked for every opportunity.
“There is no possibility she could have gone to school,” Jolie said of Zahara. “In all probability, what would have happened to Maddox, he would have been one of the kids doing the garbage picking in the street, and he would have been on his own.
Jolie appeared surprised when Curry compared her concern for education to that shown by another woman – first lady Laura Bush. “She should nudge her husband,” said Jolie.
When Curry pointed out that the United States does spend a considerable amount of money to insure that poor people get an education, Jolie acknowledged, “They do. But (the Bush program) ‘No Child Left Behind’ means NO child left behind. Britain gives three times more than us right now. They’re not richer than us. So, I don’t know what the great excuse is.”
As for her giggling? “That’s what I’ve gotten from the pregnancy,” said Jolie. Brad said that to me, too. I just get hysterical now. It goes on for hours. … It’s hormonal.”
HELLEN
Apr 27, 2006 at 2:03 pm
I love Angelina Jolie so much because she is beautiful in and out side. Please don’t be jealous to her or hate her. It’s not fair if you guy just keep blame her. How about Jenifer Aniston steal Brad from Patrow?
Robin Mongelluzzo
Apr 27, 2006 at 5:47 pm
I can appreciate her concern for Global Education, and her knowledge of the statistics supporting education in underdeveloped countries, but the same stats apply to the U.S. also, and if you don’t believe it, check out the websites of your state, the CDC, and the Census Bureau.
These celebrities really get me. They are so quick to criticize the United States, yet, if it were not for the U.S. movie industry, and the media, the American public wouldn’t be plunking down eight bucks or more to see one of their movies! They wouldn’t be making millions for something as insignificant as acting! They would be just like the rest of us. I never heard Angelina, Brad, or any of them say, “I don’t deserve all of this money for just making a movie, give it to a school or daycare center”!
I am not impressed.
Nancy
Apr 27, 2006 at 6:21 pm
Wow, you haven’t researched very closely. Angelina has long been reported as one of the top actresses in Hollywood at giving charitable contributions. Do a quick internet search and you will see many many references.
Christina
Apr 27, 2006 at 6:23 pm
Actually, I have heard Angelina say almost those same words, Robin. But I honestly would like to see Brad and Angelina do a little bit more work domestically. We have an awful lot of problems at home that need help, but at the same time, we have plenty of money here that is being porked out to worthless projects that could be used to a much better advantage.
No doubt, those poor children in the underdeveloped countries need help a lot more than people in the US. I don’t fault anyone, at all, for doing what they can do to help them. What Brad and Angelina can do with their resources in those areas is truly amazing, and they should be, and are, applauded for their efforts. Again, IMO, in the US, there is opportunity for all of the children to get educated, and those who don’t take advantage of it have their parents to blame.
So, I am impressed. Totally.
JoliePittFan
Apr 27, 2006 at 8:16 pm
Christina, excellent points. I guess I’m less bothered by celebs concentrating energy outside of the US because I live here and I see so much waste on a daily basis, and waste in the sense of knowing we DO have programs for every imaginable thing anyone would need assistance with, yet we either overfund them with most of it going to administrative costs, or we underfund them and really help no one.
We have so many safety nets available that sometimes the person ends up even less equipped to a productive participant in society than when they first sought assistance. We don’t have a hunger issue, we have an overweight issue in this country lol.
I saw an Oprah show on poverty 6 months ago are so, and in every instance, I could clearly see a solution, but in every instance an excuse was made to stay in the situation, and it’s such a common story , while on the other side of the world those people WISH they had our problems.
Yesterday George Clooney was on Oprah, and today he was in Washington showing film footage he and his dad took on their trip to a refugee camp in Darfur, and though it’s not like I haven’t seen atrocities like that before, it still rattled me, and once again I’m reminded just how blessed we really are, and how we DO at least in more cases than not have options, but those people don’t even have a pot to tinkle in or a window to toss it out of.
I’m glad someone who others may be more inclined to listen to as a apposed to a politician, “even if it’s only because they think he’s a hunk” is willing to take the time to put it out there, and maybe it’ll end up even prompting someone to share their time and money right here. jmho
Christina
Apr 27, 2006 at 8:43 pm
“We don’t have a hunger issue, we have an overweight issue in this country”
Boy are you right on the mark there. Excellent points yourself, JPF :) To me, it seems like donating money to some of our country’s biggest problems is like throwing the dishpan out with the dishwater (is that right?? LOL). It is quite amazing what one dollar will do in one of these ravaged countries compared with what the same dollar will do here. I can understand why people would rather actually SEE what their investment (be it time or money) can do over there than add it to the pork over here. Very sad, but very true, IMO, of course.
Catherine
Apr 28, 2006 at 8:16 pm
Robin> I have to back Christina up here, because I also have heard Angie say herself that she doesn’t deserve all this money just for making movies, but she also said she continues to make the movies because it allows her to be able to help other people. Now, if any famous person uses thier star power to help others in great need in a really big way, I can’t see why we should critisize and call it something it isn’t such as “Just a PR ploy”. I’ve also read that she gives a good half of her income away to charities.(yep, I heard HALF… don’t know if it’s true but it wouldn’t suprise me. I’ll see if I can find the interview)
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