Jolie transformed by humanitarian work

Actress Angelina Jolie arrives at a film premiere in West Hollywood, Calif. in this Jan. 8, 2007 file photo.[AP]

Fresh off a trip to the Sudan, Angelina Jolie said her travelling experience as a humanitarian ambassador for the United Nations has transformed her in an amazing way, media reported Tuesday.

The famous actress told Newsweek that she began traveling as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations some six years ago.

She said she first went to two camps in Africa, and then Pakistan and Cambodia. "And with no cameras and with no press and had the opportunity to have this great education before I spoke at all…. I was transformed in such an amazing way."

"The first two years I just cried constantly," she said. "I couldn't really talk about the situation without being emotional. And I went through a period of just complete lack of hope."

The mother of almost four also said that when she first entered the camps on her own — on a commercial plane with one backpack, the way she travels still — she was quite shy about both speaking to the refugees and sticking a camera in their face.

She said that she eventually came to terms with the press accompanying her.

"Let the people speak for themselves through the camera," she said. "And if I can draw you in a little because I'm familiar, then that's great. Because I know at the end you're not looking at me, you're looking at them."

"I don't know if anybody saying that has spent the last six years of their life going to over 30 camps and really spending time with these people," said Jolie, who wants to return to Cambodia.

Jolie, who recently returned from a solo trip to Sudan's Darfur region, said that the next stop on her perpetual global goodwill tour will be the native country of her son Maddox. "I want to go back to Cambodia," she said.