UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom visited Mozambique this week, where 1.1 million children remain in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of tropical cyclones Idai and Kenneth.
The actor travelled to Beira, one of the areas worst-affected by Cyclone Idai, which killed over 600 people and destroyed nearly 240,000 homes when it made landfall in March.
UNICEF is supporting families affected by the cyclones to either return home or relocate to safer places. UNICEF is also providing healthcare, nutrition, education, water and sanitation, and protection services. In the days following the storm, UNICEF and its partners restored water supplies to thousands of people in Beira and procured and administered 1 million doses of the cholera vaccine, thereby curbing a large cholera outbreak.
Bloom visited the Mutua resettlement area in Beira, currently home to around 1,500 people affected by the cyclones, nearly half of whom are children. Bloom danced and sang with young children and spoke to them about their hopes and dreams for the future.
The actor also visited a primary school in Beira, which was damaged in the cyclone and later repaired by the students themselves.
Wrapping up his trip to the storm-ravaged city, Bloom spent an afternoon with young volunteers at an interfaith group. Many of them told the actor that the pain and suffering they saw after the cyclones strengthened their resolve to help others. The group gathered on the beachfront, a symbolic venue, as the volunteers pointed out that the powerful storm emerged from the sea.
UNICEF has launched an appeal for US$122 million to support its humanitarian response for children and families devastated by the storm and its aftermath in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi~UNICEF
