July 16, 2008

Clay Aiken’s UNICEF blog on Somalia #2

Posted in Musings tagged , , , at 9:31 am by myrlinn

Clay writes a second blog post for UNICEF Fieldnotes — “Somalia: Keep spreading the word”

He gives more specifics on what UNICEF is doing there,
and mentions how much the donations to UNICEF are appreciated:

And, I applaud you too. Since my previous blog post, you have donated over $50,000 for children Somalia. On behalf of these children, I can’t thank you enough. But I also challenge you to not stop now… encourage your friends and family as well. Ask them to learn more about UNICEF’s work in Somalia and around the world, and cheer them on to help out too!

For rest of blog, go here: http://fieldnotes.unicefusa.org/2008/07/somalia_keep_spreading_the_wor.html

[Note: for Clay’s first UNICEF Fieldnotes blog, go to: http://fieldnotes.unicefusa.org/2008/07/where_is_the_outrage_1.html]


July 10, 2008

Clay Aiken’s UNICEF blog on Somalia: Where is the outrage?

Posted in Musings tagged , , , , , , , at 8:27 am by myrlinn

Clay writes about his trip to Somalia in a UNICEF Fieldnotes blog — “Somalia: Where’s the Outrage?” (July 9, 2008   )

UNICEF Ambassador Clay Aiken recently returned from Somalia, where UNICEF provides children in the war-torn nation with health care, education, nutrition, clean water and sanitation. This is the first in a series of blog posts he will write about his experience in the field.

I recently returned from a UNICEF field visit that took me to northwest Somalia. What I saw there was both amazing and heartbreaking. In many ways, the children I was able to meet are doing better than their counterparts in the rest of Somalia. But in other respects, the situation there is still quite serious….

For the rest of the blog, go here: http://fieldnotes.unicefusa.org/2008/07/where_is_the_outrage_1.html

Clay in Somalia 1

Clay in Somalia 2

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Clay talks about his UNICEF trip to Afghanistan in an interview for the Sun-Sentinel (Celebrity travel: Go away with Clay Aiken, July 6, 2008 ).

A couple of snippets from the article:

A former teacher, Aiken was appointed UNICEF ambassador in 2004. Between touring and making field visits for UNICEF, Aiken has seen a good chunk of the world. But he says he will never forget the beauty and grace of Afghanistan and its people.

SIGHTSEEING: I enjoy seeing real life. I don’t really care so much about going to see all the famous sites. They’re very nice and I appreciate them when I do see them, but I don’t go out of my way to check out all the monuments. I really like to get a feel for what it would be like to live in whatever country I’m in. I was able to do that a little bit in Afghanistan. People were just so real and natural

Read the rest of the interview here: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/travel/sfl-0706celebtravel,0,6215686.story

July 3, 2008

New article: UNICEF USA Ambassador Clay Aiken visits Somalia

Posted in Music tagged , , , , at 8:27 am by myrlinn

Clay Aiken in Somalia

UNICEF USA Ambassador Clay Aiken visits Somalia

By Denise Shepherd-Johnson

NAIROBI, Kenya, 2 July 2008 – During a five-day visit to the self-declared republic of Somaliland in north-west Somalia, UNICEF USA Ambassador Clay Aiken was moved by the work that UNICEF is doing under challenging circumstances.

…

For the rest of the article, go here: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/somalia_44691.html

RELATED BLOG POST : Reminders of what’s really important

June 26, 2008

Reminders of what’s really important

Posted in Musings tagged , , at 8:24 am by myrlinn

This morning, I was doing my usual check of Clay news, and came across this:

HARGEISA, Somalia (Reuters Life!) – Clay Aiken appealed on Wednesday for the world not to forget Somalia, where conflict and hunger have created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

For 12-year-old, Ubah Mohamed, her wants were simpler.”I understand he is famous. I hope he will give us food and build a school for us,” she said, near to a refugee camp.

Source: Clay Aiken appeals for world attention on Somalia, Wed June 25, 2008

And then I read this story on my friend tribeca’s blog:

My mom’s good friend Lynda was an only child who always wanted a family.  Lynda was a true friend to my mom.  Lynda was very outspoken.  When someone in our neighborhood called her fat she told them “i can go on a diet your attitude will always be lousy”.   My dad who isn’t a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve (ever) told Lynda at one of our holiday parties ” you are now our sister”.  All of Aunts considered her part of the family.  In all the family pictures of the “sisters’ Lynda is in them.  It was a very sad day when Lynda was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Lynda was always a fighter so she was not gonna to go easy.  Her treatment made her lose all her hair and she lost a lot of weight.  My mom helped Lynda pick out a wig and took her to an expensive restaurant that day ( they figured that should live it up. Why not?).  When at that restaurant the ladies from the neighborhood came up to Lynda and told her how great she looked and asked what was doing to look so great.  Lynda said I’m dying.  Nobody said anything.  At Lynda’s funeral the priest said that when she was a child she was so lonely being an only child and her goal in life was to find a family.  She said she died accomplishing her goal.  That was truly beautiful to me.

Link: Tribeca’s Blog

Really puts out own lives into perspective, doesn’t it?