Tom Hiddleston has a gentle heart. He really does. He might be too earnest and twee for his own good, but I’ll never bash him for caring about people, for raising money for good causes, and for putting his time and his money towards improving the lives of children. Hiddles has been a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF for years now, and he often posts UNICEF photos, updates, videos and the like on his Twitter. Yesterday, The Independent published an essay by Tom about his trip (earlier this year) to South Sudan. You can read the full essay here. Here’s part of it:

In conflict and crises, it is children who are hardest hit. I saw this for myself in South Sudan, on a visit to the country with Unicef earlier this year. South Sudan is a forgotten war, which strikes children with unforgivable brutality. Rape, forced recruitment and attacks on schools are becoming a daily part of their childhood. South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in 2011, and has been riven by political and civil conflict since December 2013. The major cities have become war zones, with civilians fleeing to relative safety in rural areas. So many people, so many innocent children: displaced, desperate, starving.

The day before I was due to fly to South Sudan – in February this year – Unicef announced that at least 89 boys had been abducted while they were preparing to sit their school exams in Wau Shilluk, in Upper Nile state. These boys, some as young as 13, had been forcibly conscripted into armed militia.

Three days later, I found myself in the very same village, one of the most remote places I have ever seen. Walking around the desolate school, the destruction left in the wake of the militia’s violent interruption of the school day the previous weekend was still visible. The playground was empty, school desks had been overturned and doors were hanging off their hinges.

In one of the school-rooms, I met with 15-year-old John, who had escaped abduction. Sitting on the floor together in the corner, he told me that he feared for his life, that everyone did. He told me: “we have a big problem and worry. The soldiers – they are killing the people”. But despite the immense danger, he still wanted to attend school and prepare for his exams.

In South Sudan, around 13,000 children have been recruited and are being used by all sides of the conflict, putting their lives at risk and irreversibly changing the fortunes of these children. I met a Unicef aid worker in the Upper Nile region, who had met with boys desperate to go home, but bound by the fear the militia had instilled in them. Children face an impossible choice – kill or be killed. For some, these children may seem a lost cause. But not for Unicef who, as well as delivering vital water and health care to children in South Sudan, are working to release and rehabilitate children forced to fight.

[From The Independent]

The names of the kids were changed to protect their identities. Tom also included a link to UNICEF where he’s asking people to “tell David Cameron to protect children in emergencies.” And, I would assume, donate money to help protect those kids. Good for Tom for raising awareness and for writing about his trip. Now I kind of want Tom and Angelina Jolie to sit down and record a PSA together.

Photos courtesy of UNICEF, WENN.