When Academy-Award winning actress Susan Sarandon isn’t starring in films and plays, she is traveling the world as a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
Susan Sarandon was appointed to be a Goodwill Ambassador in 1999. “I’m really grateful for being given this opportunity,” she said at the time. “My intent is to continue to speak on behalf of those whose voices are less readily heard – children and women at risk.”
And she has done just that. In 2003, the actress traveled to Brazil (near the Bahia region) to film the shocking conditions that some children are forced to work in to help support their families. The film, entitled, “Child Labor in Brazil,” is part of a television series called “What’s Going On?”
Sarandon narrates the film, which aired on Showtime and can also be viewed on YouTube. In it, the children who are mostly under the age of 14, explain that they have to miss school in order to work.
Sarandon says that Brazil along with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF have joined together to provide an education-incentive program called Bolsa Familia. This program provides stipends to certain underprivileged families who meet the requirements: the families are given stipends, in cash, as long as the children are attending school. And, according to the World Bank and several Brazilian communities, this program has shown significant success.
Susan Sarandon also uses her Goodwill Ambassador and celebrity status and to empower women living in impoverished countries. For over 20 years, the actress has been active with Heifer International, an organization that works to end global poverty and hunger by such methods as teaching self-reliance.
In 2011, Sarandon traveled to Cambodia with Heifer International. There, she spoke out against human trafficking, listened to girls who had been rescued from sex slavery and urged politicians to act.
Somaly Man, a Cambodian anti-trafficking advocate, says Sarandon’s visit “really sends a strong message to the powerful people in this country that people in the United States care about sex trafficking.”
It was in Cambodia that Sarandon began referring to women as “the glue.” She believes that Cambodian women are the glue to holding their families together.
In addition, Sarandon serves on the Board for an organization called Yele Haiti. Yele Haiti works to promote health and education development in Haiti. After the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti, Sarandon participated in relief efforts.
As Susan Sarandon reflects on her own family and children, she poses a powerful question: “I see how my life and the lives of my kids are connected to the outside world. How can you not participate in the world you live in?”
Sources: Condé Nast Traveler, Heifer, Microgiving, MTV, Marmot, UNESCO, UNICEF 1, UNICEF 2, UNICEF 3, World Bank
Photo: Google Images