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Katy Perry’s Vietnam Trip Is Colorful And Heartwarming, Her Longest Break From Orlando Bloom

By Dustin Kemp
Published on: 22:56 PST, May 31, 2016

This past weekend, Katy Perry took her first extended break from newly confirmed boyfriend Orlando Bloom to travel to rural Vietnam and help out some of its more impoverished residents — while at the same time taking her customary wild outfits to a whole new level.

Vietnamese news source Tuoi Tre reported several days ago that the trip was completely unannounced, and fans had no idea Perry was even leaving the U.S. until Katy posted a picture of herself at a Vietnamese hotel to her Instagram on Friday.

“On. A. Mission. #UNICEF,” Katy captioned the snap, and by doing so let fans know that she was determined to do some good.

Also according to the Tuoi Tre article, it was Perry’s fan club who identified the hotel Katy was in as being located in Ninh Thuan province, a rural and very impoverished area located on the Southern half of the Vietnamese coast.

Over the next few days, Katy Perry would venture further off the beaten path to visit some of Ninh Thuan’s small villages. There, Perry is helping UNICEF to fight for improved education, water sanitation, and hygiene in the hamlets, which are blighted by an extreme lack of resources and even less support from Vietnam’s corrupt government.

People reports that Katy was touched emotionally by the families she met and could not believe the hardships they put up with on a day-to-day basis.

“It was heartbreaking to meet a grandmother who was left to care for four grandchildren after her daughter passed away,” Perry recounted recently.

“The family lives off a bumpy path in a remote village in the hills, and one of the grandchildren, a five-year-old named Linh, became severely malnourished. If a UNICEF-trained outreach worker had not come to the village, and made sure Linh got the care she needed, she might not be alive today. Linh is one of millions of children who face such challenges every day. That’s something we should all be worried about.”

Katy and her UNICEF team made a particular effort to lend aid to disabled children and children in schools, giving them jackets and scarves to stay warm at night.

“All the children I met have incredible dreams. We have to help them fight for those dreams,” Perry explained.

“Investing in the most disadvantaged to give them a fair chance in life is not only the right thing to do, it is the best way to break the cycle of poverty and drastically improve children’s health, education and well-being.”

The outfit that Katy has been wearing on her outreach mission, although it may look rather outlandish to an American viewer, may also help her blend into the Vietnamese culture. The white-and-blue pinstriped pants are not out of the ordinary in Vietnam, as Vietnamese women can often be seen stepping out in boldly patterned long pants made of cotton. Perry’s piercingly bright blue t-shirt fits right in, too, as loose and brightly colored garments are a Vietnamese clothing staple. Admittedly, Perry’s matching baseball cap is something you probably wouldn’t find a Vietnamese woman wearing, but it is not as out-there as some of the extremely innovative getups Katy Perry has become known for.

The Daily Mail speculates that Katy Perry may have been inspired to return to her work with UNICEF after she went to Madagascar with the agency in 2013 because of Perry’s new boyfriend, Orlando Bloom. Bloom Went on a UNICEF mission to war-torn Ukraine just last month and loved it, so it is very likely he reminded Katy how wonderful it is to get out into the world and lend aid to the less fortunate.

Perry is still in Vietnam; it’s anyone’s guess when Katy will be returning to the United States.

[Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images]

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