*** I know that many of you know all about Ambassador Clay Aiken and his trip to Indonesia.  However, it is an important part of the life of Clay Aiken.  At this time, we have many new readers who are supporters of Candidate Clay… so for some, this story might be new.  HOWEVER,  for all of you, the video is well worth watching.  The entire video will break your heart, yet make you so proud of Clay who worked hard to help the children who lost everything but their determination to keep on living!***

On March 14, 2005, Clay Aiken who was an ambassador for UNICEF, toured the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh.  This was Clay’s first trip as an ambassador for UNICEF.

“The trip was for fact-finding purposes.  There are citizens in the U.S. who have offered their time, effort, money and resources,” Clay told the Jakarta Post.  “There are some who try to find out where their money is going, what type of work is being done.”

The most recent analysis compiled by the United Nations lists a total of 229,866 people lost.  It was also reported that one-third of the dead were children.

While Clay was in Indonesia, he participated in UNICEF programs that helped children in many ways. Some of these important programs included helping children to reconnect with their families, caring for orphans, preventing the spread of disease and assisting children in returning to school.

According to an Indonesian news source, Clay spent an afternoon with about 100 children from Lampuuk Beach.  The children were housed at a refuge camp and they greeted him with songs.  It was reported that Clay sat and chatted with some of the children and tried to get them to laugh.

Clay was accompanied by Ferry Salim who is a local celebrity and a UNICEF ambassador.  He reported that Clay learned quickly to sing a children’s song in the Indonesian language.  The song ‘di Sini Senang, di Sana Senang’ translates to “happiness everywhere” and is a popular Indonesian nursery song.

Salim reported that Clay accompanied some children to therapy and seemed to show great empathy for the children.  Clay said that it was important that the children get back to their known routine and that getting back to school on a daily basis was most important.

While Clay was in Indonesia, UNICEF distributed 4100 school-in-a-box tools and 1700 packages of games.  They planned on sending 200 teachers to Aceh a soon as possible.

UNICEF has many celebrity Ambassadors who donate time and money to many causes throughout the world.  They are lucky to have Clay Aiken on their team.

The following is a video of two  interviews Clay did about his trip to Indonesia.  The first is a UNICEF interview and the next is from WRAL.