Stars honour real-life heroes in US
Monday November 23 2009
Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson and Pierce Brosnan have helped honour some of this year's real-life "heroes" in Hollywood - including a UK-based campaigner.
The trio of stars joined other big names including Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes and Greg Kinnear in presenting awards to the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2009.
And Essex-based Betty Makoni was among those being honoured at the gala event, taped at the Kodak Theatre, home to the Oscars.
Originally from Zimbabwe, Betty now lives in exile in Britain, and is the founder of the Girl Child Network, which provides a haven for young victims of sexual abuse and has rescued more than 35,000 girls since 2001.
"I'm quite excited, I work with young girls who are sexually abused and to bring these cases to the [attention of the] whole world is something that is really of great joy to me. So I'm quite delighted," she explained on the red carpet.
"We support empowerment of girls in their homes and communities because this is where young girls can be blocked from developing from their full potential as women. We have 700 girls clubs in Zimbabwe and a membership of 60,000 girls so this is a huge movement."
The star-studded show also featured performances by Grammy Award-winning artist Carrie Underwood and X Factor winner Leona Lewis.
:: CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute airs in the UK on November 27 at 8pm.
Press Association
