NEWSAngelina Makes Humanitarian Trip to Afghanistan
Oct. 24 2008, Published 11:29 a.m. ET
While Angelina Jolie can't walk the streets of just about any city in the world without making headlines, the superstar actress managed to fly under the media's radar for two days this week when she spent two days visiting returning refugees in Afghanistan.
Angie, a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN's refugee agency, spent Wednesday and Thursday of this week touring Afghanistan for the first time to meet and talk to former Afghan refugees as they attempt to reintegrate themselves into the country they once called home.
"The courage, resilience and quiet dignity of returnee families rebuilding their lives against the kind of adversity few of us can imagine shows the human spirit at its best," says Angelina in a statement on the website for the UNHCR.
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On Wednesday, the Oscar-winner visited the Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, home to 20 percent of those who have returned since the Taliban was removed from power in 2002. Here, Angelina got to see first-hand how the large influx of returnees — 850,000 in Nangarhar alone — has caused a drain on much-needed resources.
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And then on Thursday, Angie travelled to the capital city of Kabul, where the population has tripled in recent years, causing massive problems with the city's ill-prepared infrastructure.
"Afghanistan has been struggling to absorb these massive returns," explains Angelina. "It's understandable. It's one of the largest population movements in recent history."
