Although Selena Gomez is best known for her singing, acting, and fashion, she has also been a UNICEF ambassador since 2009, working to improve the lives of poor children around the world. Gomez recently got back from a moving trip to Nepal. She talked about her deep experiences, which shed light on the hard lives children in poor areas have to live.
When Gomez thought back on her work in Nepal, she talked about how different the country’s natural beauty was from the terrible problems that children there face. Many of them die before they turn one year old from things that could have been avoided. She talked about Nepal’s ongoing healing from past wars and how strong and determined the people of Nepal were in the face of that.
Gomez, who is 21 years old, found the trip especially powerful because it made her think more deeply about basic needs like clean water. She was moved by UNICEF’s focus on water access in places where it is scarce because she was used to throwing away half-full water bottles without much thought. Her future trips to India made her even more aware of these issues, which changed her habits and made her more determined to fight for basic needs.
The educational programs run by UNICEF also made an impact on Gomez. He was amazed at how easily and creatively the kids in the free classes learnt. She compared how resourceful they were to how easy it is to get an education in countries with more money, which made her want to share these thoughts with her fans. An important part of Gomez’s job as an ambassador is to make her fans more aware of world problems like the ones Nepalese children face.
While she was in Nepal, Gomez was moved by both the hard times the children were going through and how happy and content they were all the time. Their deep happiness, which came from family ties, simple joys like football, and their desire to learn, left an indelible mark on her. Seeing their strength in person made Gomez even more committed to her work with UNICEF, taking her work from mere star advocacy to a deep-seated commitment.
Gomez continues to motivate her fans to care about global problems and put what’s important in life first by sharing her stories with humility and admiration for the strength of Nepalese children. Not only does her work with UNICEF change the lives of the children she meets, but it also changes her own view of the world. This shows how powerful empathy and support can be in making a difference in the world.