Clay Aiken in Uganda for UNICEF

One of the links on the left is to an organization called "Invisible Children". They are publicizing the plight of the children of Northern Uganda called "night commuters". These children walk for miles every night to sleep wherever they can in the cities rather than risk being kidnapped in their villages by the Lord's Resistance Army. The LRA captures children and turns them into child soldiers, or tortures or rapes them, or makes them commit unspeakable acts, such as the murder of a parent or sibling. The LRA call themselves Christians--imagine that! This has been going on now for 20 years!

Clay went to Uganda on behalf of UNICEF last year. He didn't get a lot of publicity for it, but his fans did become educated about these children and have contributed generously to UNICEF and other organizations on their behalf. See the link to Bead for Life. This is a group that raises funds by selling very cool bead jewelry made by Ugandan villagers. Check it out. It's a great group. Fans had bead parties at lots of Clay's concerts last year.

Pictures may be the only way to communicate how meaningful this experience was for Clay, since he has had few opportunities to talk about it in the press. So here are some pictures of Clay in Uganda:

Technorati tags:
Clay Aiken Clay Aiken fans UNICEF Uganda night commuters Invisible Children