Angelina Jolie returns from secret Afghanistan visit

Angelina Jolie flew back to the U.S. after a secret two-day trip visiting poverty-stricken families in Afghanistan. The actress and humanitarian spent Wednesday and Thursday (Oct 22,23 08) with former refugees who have returned to the country and are attempting to build new homes, in her role as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. According to the UN, more than 5 million Afghans have returned home since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001. Another 3 million registered Afghans are still in exile in Pakistan and Iran.
Speaking after her return, Jolie says, “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.”
With a new movie out and 6 kids including infant twins to care for, it’s pretty extraordinary (if not highly recommended) to make such a trip at this time.  You can read more about her trip on the UNHCR website here.

By the way if you didn’t catch it Jolie recently hinted that she and Brad Pitt are headed to the altar. Jolie tells the new issue of Italian Vanity Fair:

“When we first met I already had a child.  We didn’t live together and we adopted Zahara.  Usually people fall in love and and everything revolves around people getting married. Children are an afterthought.”

“We’ve done everything the wrong way around, but sooner or later the children will ask, you know, they watch films and ask questions,” Jolie said. “They want to know why Shrek and Fiona got married and we haven’t.”