DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — Democratic
President Barack Obama and Republican predecessor President
George W. Bush found common ground in Africa on Tuesday, honoring the victims
of a terrorist attack in an unprecedented chance encounter a world away from
home.
The U.S. presidents had a brief,
silent appearance together at a monument to victims of the 1998 embassy bombing
here in the east African city where Bush coincidentally happened to be as Obama
wrapped up a weeklong tour of the continent. While the two U.S. leaders didn't
say anything publicly, their wives engaged in a warm and chatty joint
appearance at a summit on African women.
Initially the two presidents weren't
even planning to meet while in town, but first lady Michelle Obama joked as she
sat next to her predecessor: "They're learning from us."
The Obamas departed Africa for home
shortly after crossing paths with the Bushes, who were hosting the summit
promoting the role of African first ladies in bringing change to their
countries. Bush ended up joining the current president for the wreath-laying
ceremony honoring the Tanzanian victims of the simultaneous attacks at the U.S.
embassies here and in Kenya masterminded by Osama bin Laden.
The two presidents bowed their heads
as a Marine placed the wreath of red, white and blue flowers in front of the
large stone memorial on the grounds of the new U.S. Embassy. After a few
moments, they shook hands with survivors of the attack and relatives of those
killed before walking back into the embassy together in private discussion.
At that very moment, their wives
were putting on a public display of mutual affection in a discussion moderated
by American journalist Cokie Roberts. Mrs. Obama said she wanted to appear with
Laura Bush because "I like this woman" and it's therapeutic to share
the challenges of their roles.
"It's sort of a club, a
sorority, I guess," Mrs. Bush responded.
Their goal was to encourage African
first ladies to raise their voices for causes they are passionate about, even
if the public is sometimes focused on more trivial matters, the said.
"While people are sort of
sorting through our shoes and our hair, whether we cut it or not ..." Mrs.
Obama started.
"Whether we have bangs,"
Mrs. Bush interjected to laughter. Mrs. Obama expressed surprise that her
change in hair style this year would prompt so much media coverage. "Who
would have thought? I didn't call that."
"But," Mrs. Obama said,
"we take our bangs and we stand in front of important things that the
world needs to see. And eventually people stop looking at the bangs and they
start looking at what we're standing in front of."
"We hope," Mrs. Bush
joked. Mrs. Obama replied, "They do, and that's the power of our
roles."
When it comes to the power of their
husbands' roles, Obama has said he wants to usher in a new era of U.S.-Africa
relations. Obama has praised Bush for helping save millions of lives by funding
AIDS treatment. But, he said Monday, "We are looking at a new model that's
based not just on aid and assistance, but on trade and partnership."
"Ultimately, the goal here is
for Africa to build Africa for Africans," Obama said. "And our job is
to be a partner in that process."
In that spirit, Obama announced a
program to bring more power to Africans without access to electricity. During a
visit to a local power plant built with a U.S. grant, Obama demonstrated a
soccer ball designed to bring power to communities off the power grid.
One invention that could help on the
electricity front is the SOCCKET ball, developed by two Harvard graduates. The
ball has a pendulum-like mechanism inside that creates kinetic energy during
play and stores it. Its maker says 30 minutes of play can power a simple LED
lamp for three hours.
Obama kicked the ball off his foot
and did a low header. "We're going to start getting these all around
Africa," Obama said. "Pretty impressive stuff."
In remarks afterward, he touted the
"Power Africa" electricity program as a win-win for Africans and U.S.
companies. He also reflected on the weeklong trip, recalling some of the folks
he met along the way, including a female farmer in Senegal and young people in
the Soweto area of South Africa's capital city, Johannesburg.
"I'm inspired because I'm
absolutely convinced that with the right approach, Africa and its people can
unleash a new era of prosperity," Obama said.
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