Actor Orlando Bloom talks to us about his work in Liberia

(Vatican Radio)  The British actor Orlando Bloom has spoken to Vatican Radio about his recent visit to Liberia and the devastating impact of the Ebola epidemic there. Bloom is best known for his leading roles in blockbuster movies like ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’ but he has another role that is not so widely publicized as a Goodwill Ambassador to the UN children’s charity, UNICEF. Bloom was interviewed while attending a Children’s Film Festival near Naples in Italy.   

Listen to the interview in English with Orlando Bloom: 

The British actor spent 4 days in Liberia in March this year during which he toured the country and saw “the devastating impact” that Ebola had on the whole nation. He praised the “incredible job” that UNICEF and its local partners were doing to educate the local people on how to stop the spread of the deadly disease. Some of those preventative measures, he said, were as “simple as hand washing” and seeking the correct medical help if somebody fell ill. He also described how UNICEF workers helped to persuade the Liberian population to desist from their traditional ritual of washing the bodies of the deceased before burial. Bloom said the method they adopted was to enlist the support of young volunteers who were used to educate older people in the community about the dangers of this ritual because the bodies of Ebola victims were highly contagious. The actor said many “entire families were wiped out” by Ebola after a family member washed the body of a loved one who had died from the disease.  

Bloom’s visit to Liberia was his fourth to developing countries on behalf of UNICEF. His earlier visits were to Jordan, South Africa and Nepal.