Jolie, Pitt help Katrina hit children

Washington (ANI): Actress Angelina Jolie utilised her star power recently to spread further awareness about the plight of children displaced by Hurricane Katrina, which wrecked havoc in New Orleans about two years ago. The Tomb Raider star, who is also a United Nations (UN) goodwill ambassador, revealed that her partner Brad Pitt would also join her for working alongside the Children"s Health Fund (CHF).

"This is the largest displacement of children in my own country so I want to learn as much as possible," Contactmusic quoted her as saying at a press conference in New Orleans. Pitt has even promised to donate more than five million dollars to Make It Right, a project to rebuild 150 homes in the Lower Ninth Ward, a neighbourhood devastated by the hurricanes. "We're focused on community building. It's not just about homes. It's not just about building. It's about the lack of focus on education and health care too," the actor said.

Earlier this month, a report issued by the CHF suggested that between 46,000 and 64,000 children affected by Katrina and Hurricane Rita were at the risk of contracting medical, mental health, and educational problems. "Many families are distressed about how long and difficult the recovery has been," said Dr Irwin Redlener, president of the CHF and director of the National Centre for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, which conducted the study.

"We're concerned that this issue has fallen off the radar screen and that, nationally, people are losing interest, saying this is a 'local' issue. We dispute that. This is a national problem and one that requires an intense and focused effort to fix," he added.