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I think that is great that you are teaching your children to appreciate what they have and help those less fortunate. Hearing there are still some people like you out there gives me hope that all is not lost. I have been finding humanity’s situation as a whole quite depressing of late, particularly the global political outlook. The more I learn the more helpless I feel, and the less people care and allow themselves to be distracted, the more frustrated I get. It’s nice to come across those who are still trying to make a difference.

Perhaps your law studying kid might end up a human rights attorney rather than go into family law? If not, at the least s/he could do pro bono work for people in need in your community, volunteer at legal aid etc. I’m sure their skills would be in demand, no matter which direction they go in.

I wouldn’t be too concerned that they aren’t as passionate as you are yet. I wasn’t interested in doing much else except hang out with my friends and have fun when I was in school either, despite having a strong conscience. You’ve set good ground work for them to grow into considerate and socially aware adults, which is a world of difference than many other parents who are currently raising little sociopaths.

If I lived in USA, I’d want to get involved in organising those pop-up medical clinics in halls and sports centres where doctors, nurses, dentists etc dedicate their days off to provide free health care to people in low socio-economic areas hit by the GFC. I heard that people had lost their jobs and houses and because of the long waiting lists for trailers and emergency accommodation, they are camping in tent cities in the forest. The forest, in America! I fear a health crisis is looming, particularly among this group of people, who now can’t even afford to feed their kids, let alone give them adequate medical care. It disgusts me that people could be living like 3rd world refugees in USA and be too poor to get medicine.

We are so lucky here. Although we feel the effects of the global recession, (eg our superannuation, largely tied up in the stock market, is haemorrhaging millions daily), the mining industry insulated our economy so we are in relatively good form. Regardless, there is always free medical care for anyone in need, at least. Although, we’d face the same accommodation crisis if we had similar numbers of people suddenly jobless and homeless, like USA has faced. Still, there are plenty of people in need of assistance here that can be helped in other ways, even if it’s just a friend to have a coffee with and a chat to give them support while they get back on their feet.

Every cause needs money but I agree with you that volunteering can help just as much, if not more. Most people can donate a bit of time, if not cash. At least 100% of that goes directly to the people who need it, rather than 80% of a monetary donation disappearing in administration costs!

So anyway, I’ve rambled on but without trying to sound patronising, good on you for what you and your family are doing. I sincerely commend you for trying to make a difference.

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True heroes.

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And yes, I am a fan of hers. But I still don’t understand why someone’s charity work is a reason to hate on them. Seems like a waste of time to hate on good intentions.

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i seem to remember that in longer duration interviews angelina jolie would drop hints/offer some solutions (some are generic contact your local representative, find out what you can etc), and use her own experience as an example (“i heard about the refugees and i tried to find books, people to talk to, reach out, etc”). but then again, for everything she said, there’s an almost equal amount of “shut up ya actressy-person”

i work with internally displaced people especially children in my country, more disaster victims, than human conflict victims though. different victims from different areas need different handling, and worse still when they’re victims of multiple disasters (they hadn’t recovered from 1 trauma, another trauma happens, that sort of thing). mostly i’m doing kid partnership, kinda like the buddy system i guess. help them grow, go to school, open up, work through their trauma, etc.

my kids are learning about what they can help too, now that they’re a bit older. they don’t have the same passion as i do (one is sports, which i’m crap at, and one is aspiring to be a lawyer, which i can’t stand haha, probably because of my shizzy divorce lawyer), so that’s what me and my family are asking them: what can you do to help and not to think about monetary donation as the be all and all.

I know we’re in the middle of a global crisis, and sometimes we’re caught up in our own lives or whatever problem-du-jour offered up by the media.

so i guess, i can’t fault jolie too much for coming off so generic. i guess it’s sort of an invitation: to research what each of us, with our different skillsets can do to help our community more. in the internet age, it’s easier to find out about different organizations and causes we can help.

but, as most other groundworkers i know would agree (haha, anyway, me! since i’m selfish), i like to invite anyone to spend time with us one of my friends even said: we’re strapped for cash, but rather than money, we need a volunteer!

oops. i’ve rambled now, and maybe it won’t make much sense. (sleepdeprived_plus_sugarhigh! yay!)

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The fact is that it’s incredibly complicated and there are no easy solutions until we fundamentally change our values to become unselfish and start really caring about each other, valuing life equally. Instead we are encouraged to go in the opposite direction in the pursuit of wealth and fame, at the expense of anyone who gets in our way. Based on that you could argue that celebrities are actually part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.

As an Australian, I’m ashamed that we are so hard on refugees, particularly when we are involved in wars that contribute to them being in that position. We pluck them off leaky boats, lock them up and let them rot in prison until they go insane. Some we send back home to get murdered. I work in emergency services and do what I can for the community, I donate to some causes but I should try to do more for people overseas. I have tried to muster more support, but it’s hard when no one is interested in hearing any of it. Apart from going into politics myself to fight for policy change, I don’t know what else I can do. A lot of people feel this way, I’m sure. Hence my point that we need good suggestions.

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Angie looked just like her mother ‘before’ she even reached the age of 30. That photo someone suggested you Google of Angie and her mother was taken a couple of years before Marcheline died. In the photo they’re both laughing and I swear they could be twins.

Google early pictures of Marcheline Bertrand and make an ‘informed’ opinion. Angie actually got her lips from her Mom, not her Dad.

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