Angelina Jolie

This is Jolie in a photo shoot. (http://cm1.theinsider.com/media/0/47/41/an.0.0.0x0.321x354.jpeg)

For some a hero must have super powers or be able to fly. Others think a hero is someone who fights in wars or speaks up for what they believe. Angelina Jolie may not be a hero to those people but to me she is. Jolie has a great deal of money and is always so busy, yet she is a hero because despite all of this she still makes the time to the help people in need.

Jolie in Africa. ( http://cdn.buzznet.com/media-cdn/jj1/headlines/2006/04/angelina-jolie-dateline.jpg)

Jolie has helped the world a lot but she had to start somewhere. Her background is very interesting and she certainly has a full life. Jolie was born on June 4, 1975. Her dad is a famous actor Jon Voight and Jolie grew up with everything she ever wanted. She had her dad’s wealth; fame and always had the newest styles. She started to get involved with charity work in her late twenties when she filmed the movie Beyond Borders. When she filmed this movie she realized how fortunate she was and how others aren’t. That’s when she decided she was going to help the world. After, all of her hard work she accomplished becoming an Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and she also works a lot with the United Nations itself.

Jolie in the fields. (http://www.solcomhouse.com/images/JolieField.jpg)

Jolie’s first work inspired her to keep helping others in need. Her first work took place in Sierra Leone, a small country in Africa that has suffered from a civil war for many years. When she arrived in Sierra Leone for the first time she went straight to a refugee camp. But she went to more than just one, she went to camps for “armed conflict, murder, rape, even camps that hold whole villages that had ran away.” When she visited these places her heart was broken and she felt horrible for the suffering people that she encountered. This is when it occurred to Jolie that kids don’t have homes, families have been torn apart and although she is just one person each act of hers will change at least one person’s life.

Jolie handing out toys in Cambodia. (http://www.solcomhouse.com/images/JolieField.jpg)

After her visit to Sierra Leone, Jolie went back to her home in California to spread the word about helping the people in need from foreign countries. She gave speeches in different parts of the country and she started working with charity associations about raising money and building schools. She also, went to many other suffering countries like Cambodia. Kenya, Thailand, and Pakistan. Here she worked with the UNHCR at camps and brought supplies and money. Jolie donates millions every year to charities like the Daniel Pearl Foundation, The Alliance for The Lost Boys and many more. After, all of this she went back to California and was honored by becoming and Ambassador for the UNHCR. In one of Jolie’s speeches she said “I wish I could do more but I think I’m most useful probably in just spreading the awareness.”

Jolie at the Grammies. (http://trigmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/angelina-jolie-golden-globes-2009-14.jpg)

While in these poor countries Jolie fell in love with three of the foreign kids and adopted them. These kids inspire her everyday to keep helping others so that one day they can have a great home like she provided for her three adopted kids. Their names are Madox from Cambodia, Zahara from Ethiopia, and Pax from Vietnam. By adopting these kids she has shown the world how much she cares, and how involved she is with charities. She also has three other kids that are her own. She really has a lot going on in her life from acting, to working with charity groups to just being a mother Jolie is always busy. Jolie realizes that being famous gives her the advantage of donating more money and being able to give speeches because she has many fans to support her. Jolie has done so much with her life and all she has done shows how much of a hero she is.

In summary, Angelina Jolie has accomplished a great deal of things in her life like being an award winning actress, helping many unfortunate people, and being a caring mother. She helps the world by donating loads of money and spending time with families and kids in need and she helps to put a smile on their faces. She is a true hero because even with all of this on her plate she always keeps her priorities balanced and has gone out of her way to help improve the world.