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Africa is all the rage in Hollywood
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The rich and famous in the West are getting into Africa in a big way these days, and we're not just talking about adopting babies. The latest trend for Hollywood players fresh from filming in Africa is setting up funds and trusts to give something back to the communities where they've been working, Christian Science Monitor reports. The Constant Gardener Trust is the brainchild of the makers of "The Constant Gardener", filmed in Nairobi's Kibera slum. The trust has already done some work in Kibera - one of the biggest slums in the world - building a few new sanitation facilities with toilets and showers. It may not sound very generous from a group awash with money, but in a place where "flying toilets" - plastic bags in which people defecate and then dump in the ditches - are the norm, new facilities are a welcome change. Other projects, including mobile clinics, are in the pipeline. The Blood Diamond Charity Fund is another similar venture, set up by the cast and crew members of "Blood Diamond", a story about "conflict diamonds" in Sierra Leone. Digging wells, building roads and schools, delivering food and providing medical assistance all feature on the fund's list of projects. The team behind "The Last King of Scotland", which depicts the life of infamous Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, appears to be following the same idea. It has been getting advice on dealing with charities in Uganda. Is this just "a symbol of Tinseltown's newfound interest... in transforming box-office success into tangible help for Africans in need", as the paper points out, or a larger trend that's worth keeping an eye on?
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4 responses to “Africa is all the rage in Hollywood”
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28 Dec 2006 12:19:43 GMT
Realy Madonna, don't you have enough toys? My word, are you really so bored with your life you feel you have to try to raise a black boy in your "smack women in the face" life style? Why take a child from his parents and country just to have your name in the tabloids? And how are you going to teach this boy child to be a man? Where is your husband in all this? Why isn't he standing beside you in the publicity of it all? Is he committed to bring up this child? Are you and your husband and daughter ready for the future when this child is teenager and has a mind of his own? You fool. You have no idea what you're doing. I'll keep this child in my prayers.
28 Dec 2006 12:47:17 GMT
It's a shame Hollywood can't get into the problems in the United States, that is one reason I have no respect for most of them.
28 Dec 2006 12:58:33 GMT
I am always suspicious of celebrity causes. The continent of Africa seems to be the latest focal point of awareness. Why now? I admit I'm a cynic when it comes to wealthy persons, especially of Hollywood stature, investing dollars and concern for those who truly suffer in this life. Their lifestyles make me sick to the marrow. Africa, her people and challenges are here to stay yet celebrity whims are vulnerable to the next chic wind. I say, if you care, sacrifice your time and monetary assetts and stop flaunting your wealth for the world to see. It is easy to care for those who are in such dire need when you have nothing to lose and probably much to gain.
28 Dec 2006 13:14:12 GMT
There are two million Americans-most very ill with brain disorders-that sleep out on the street at night and all we do is send billions and billions in aid to other countries.We need to clean up our own house and take care of our own people first before we worry about problems elsewhere.We can solve our problems easy-you cannot take on the entire third worlsd and cure billions of people being poor.That has been a constant throughout history.We can however,as the richest most advanced nation on earth,cure our own ills first like any other sane nation would.