Activist Angelina Jolie visited Haiti Wednesday to meet quake survivors. The actress is the The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) goodwill ambassador.
According to the UNHCR’s website, Jolie arrived Tuesday to visit with earthquake survivors and meet with aid workers. Jolie said she was in Haiti to “listen and to learn.” She first arrived at the Haitian capital and was briefed by the United Nations Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General Edmond Mulet on the aid situation in Haiti.
She also visited a tented hospital. She stated, “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 raved about the doctor’s on the UNHCR’s Website. “These doctors are extraordinary. 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.”
After visiting Haiti, Jolie stated, “It will take years to rebuild Haiti. 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.” Jolie stated
Jolie and Brad Pitt have donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders’ emergency medical care operations in Haiti.
