Actor Tom Hiddleston has just returned home from his trip with UNICEF UK to Guinea in West Africa. Read his first, second, third, fourth and fifth posts or follow Tom on Twitter at #tom_UNICEFUK and @twhiddleston
BY TOM HIDDLESTON
Learning about life for mums and children in Guinea © UNICEF 2013/Harry Borden
So that’s it.
I’m back in London. I am back in my home. Back amid the hustle and the bustle. Back amid the humdrum and the mayhem and the madness. Back to running water and the warmth of central heating. Back to a bed without a mosquito net. Back to food in the fridge and food in the cupboard and food around the corner in the supermarket.
When I started writing this blog, I talked of life in Guinea as a "jigsaw puzzle, one where the pieces keep moving or changing shape, which in turn alters the picture. You might be looking at it from a different angle, or at a different time of day". On my first night, Julien had suggested an idea of reality in Guinea as "open to interpretation". In so many respects, that is true of all life. The view always changes with the viewer. That’s the law of relativity.
Here’s what’s not open to interpretation. Every year in the world more than two million children die of hunger. It shouldn’t be like this. Children in Guinea start life at a severe disadvantage. Those that are malnourished may survive in the end. If they are caught in time. If their mothers respond to symptoms early enough; if they make it to the centre de santé, which is often miles away; if they respond to the therapeutic peanut paste, and special therapeutic feeding milk. If their parents are able to grow crops and feed them with enough nutritious foods so they can keep healthy. If they win the fight against malaria. If they live near a good school. If they can get work. If their parents can protect them from exploitation by the military. If they are lucky. Previously malnourished children can make it. It sounds paradoxical to say it, but they are the lucky ones.
READ MORE: http://blogs.unicef.org.uk/authentic_voices/archive/2013/02/01/tom-hiddleston-s-guinea-field-diary-back-in-london.aspx
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