CELEB INSIDER: Baby Shiloh Aids Whole Country
We had to laugh at the comment by paparazzi photography company honcho Darryn Lyons that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt "would have been more discreet sitting in Malibu" for the birth of their baby daughter, Shiloh. "I don't know why they're going to all this ridiculous trouble."
Really.
It's just soooooo obvious that this birth and the attendant hoopla is a massive win-win for the Pitt-Jolie family and the country of Namibia. According to CNN, Angelina and Brad paid about $250,000 to rent out the entire Burning Shore resort for 10 weeks -- which is nothing compared to the commercial value of the resort's anointing by this reigning Hollywood royalty as their getaway spot. The global publicity gleaned by the Cottage Medi-Clinic Hospital in Swakopmund, Namibia -- with Jolie's obstetrician from Los Angeles, Jason Rothbart, M.D., extolling the facility and staff who assisted him in her C-section -- comes under the heading of "priceless" as well. The couple also has donated tens of thousands of dollars to a number of other local hospitals.
"If Angelina Jolie gives birth in Namibia, she would have done for our tourism sector what our tourism board budget cannot do in a year," Namibian Ambassador to the United States Hopelong Iipinge said in a statement earlier this year. That pretty much sums it up.
Beyond that, there's the Pitt and Jolie plan to launch a range of African homeware products. They've reportedly been working with craftsmen in Namibia to create an assortment of rugs, pottery and other household items -- aiming to launch a collection in Paris in September, with proceeds going to a local Namibian community.
And you have to know it's not hurting Brad's and Angelina's popularity in Namibia that the price paid for publication of baby Shiloh's first photo will go to UNICEF.
Small wonder there were press reports that a poll showed a considerable portion of the population in Namibia would have liked to have seen Shiloh's birthday declared a national holiday.
Meanwhile, the Namibian government has gone to extraordinary lengths to preserve Brad's and Angelina's privacy, including insisting that only with the written permission of the stars would it issue visas to foreign journalists who wanted to cover the birth. It installed tight security around their hotel and the hospital. And after Angelina was admitted, police ringed the hospital, refusing to admit journalists and photographers into the building, arresting photographers and confiscating film.
Meanwhile again, Pitt and Jolie have met with Namibian leaders in recent weeks to discuss ways of helping the impoverished -- though mineral rich -- African nation. Their chats have included the governor of the province in which they're staying, Namibian first lady Penehupifo Pohamba, and Prime Minister Nahas Angula, the latter of whom admonished the press: "This lady is expecting. You guys are harassing her. Why don't you allow her some privacy? Harassment is not allowed in Namibia."
Malibu schmalibu.
source:
http://channels.netscape.com/celebri...e_cel_05312006
What Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt means to Namibia
I shold really scan those new photos soon lol.
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