The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Obama ends Africa trip with Bush
Presidents coincidentally in city at same time.
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.
Initially the two presidents weren’t planning to meet, 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 Ma- rine 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.
Their goal was to encourage African first ladies to raise their voices for causes they are passionate about.
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.