Angelina Jolie visits refugee children in Ecuador

London: Hollywood star Angelina Jolie left partner Brad Pitt at home with their brood in LA to spend time with refugee children in northern Ecuador this week.

The UN Goodwill Ambassador visited a local daycare centre where she shared a laugh with little ones while playing with a toy set, a news website reported. The 35-year-old actress is drawing attention to the plight of thousands who fled the conflict in Colombia to start a new life on the other side of the Ecuadorian-Colombian border. Jolie was reunited with a Columbian mother she first met eight years ago during her first visit to Lago Agrio, the capital of Sucumbios province. "At that time she had a lot of hope for her future. She was recently treated for cancer. She still holds on to hope," Jolie said. The Salt star heard stories of savage beatings, incest and rape, but she says there has been some progress. "It`s been eight years since I was last here and UNHCR`s presence has grown considerably," Jolie said. "They are going into the thickest parts of the jungle to reach the refugees, who are living in very remote locations and in desperate conditions," she added. "I wanted to come back and meet with vulnerable people and focus on violence against women and unaccompanied minors. I am so happy to be able to reconnect with some familiar faces, refugees I had met with during my 2002 trip," Jolie said. Equador was the latest in the list of countries, for the mother-of-six, who has visited Syria, Bosnia and Haiti in the last few months for several causes. PTI