Angelina Jolie 'Struck by the Strength and Spirit of the Haitian People'

Entertainment Tonight, Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 2:29pm (PST)

Actress and activist Angelina Jolie on Wednesday visited survivors and met with aid workers of last month's devastating earthquake in Haiti.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) goodwill ambassador (pictured above talking to a 10-year-old boy who lost a limb after the quake) arrived Tuesday to the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and visited medical centers and the UN mission, according to the UNHCR's Web site.

The star also visited a cash-for-work program run by the UN Development Programme, which is intended to eventually help 400,000 Haitians earn an income.

"To give people the ability to work towards their own future is so important at this time. It helps to restore their hope and respects their dignity," Jolie said.

Jolie also visited children's villages that provide care for newly orphaned children. "I was struck by the strength and spirit of the Haitian people,” she said when visiting a tented hospital. "Children as young as nine months old were coping with amputations with extraordinary resilience. I even met a little 10-year-old boy who had recently had his leg amputated, who was giggling to himself about a silly book as he sat on the floor."

Prior to arriving to Haiti on Tuesday, Jolie spent a day in the neighboring Dominican Republic to meet with quake survivors.

Jolie and partner Brad Pitt have contributed $1 million to Doctors Without Borders' emergency medical care operations in Haiti.