Brangelina say 'thanks'
2006-05-29 21:33
Windhoek - A day after the birth of their daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have donated $300 000 for the purchase of medical equipment for two state hospitals in Namibia.
Namibian officials announced the contribution by the Hollywood glamour pair at a press briefing on Monday afternoon.
The funds would be used to refurbish hospitals in Walvis Bay - the district where Jolie gave birth on Sunday morning, and another facility in Swakopmund, said tourism deputy minister Leon Jooste.
The couple also pledged a further $15 000 donation to help a project school and community centre in Swakopmund, which they visited in April.
A statement from the couple read: "We want to contribute to Namibia and the people who have been so gracious to us at this time."
Authorities in Namibia have gone to great lengths to secure the privacy of Pitt and Jolie, who became an item after starring in the spy drama Mr and Mrs Smith and have been at the centre of intense international media interest since.
Speculation that Jolie had planned to give birth to the couple's first biological child in the vast but sparsely populated country created unprecedented curiosity about the country among foreigners, particularly Americans.
But journalists, photographers and members of the public have been kept well away from the couple and their two adopted children, Maddox, 4, and 12-month-old Zahara - by a screen along their beachside hotel and fierce bodyguards.
- SAPA