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Bono and U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill on First Leg of Four-Nation Africa Tour
Aired May 22, 2002 - 11:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: They are some unlikely traveling companions, but they all have a common goal, boosting aid to poverty stricken countries in Africa. U2 lead singer Bono and U.S. Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill are in Ghana on the first leg of their four- nation tour. And our own Daryn Kagan is travelling with them.
Talk about a Motley Crue, huh?
Daryn is checking in right now. We get to see her by way of our videophone, coming in to us live from Accra, Ghana.
Hey, Daryn, good to see you.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to hear you, Leon.
I got to tell you, it is not easy it get this videophone working from half way across the world. We have done it for now. Heavy rain is threatening. So let's get this report here in. I want to say "akwaba (ph)" -- that is the local language of khan (ph) -- to say welcome to us in Ghana.
You have the gulf of Guinea over my left shoulder. And of course we are in Ghana, one of the more successful and stable countries here in Africa. It is a stable democracy, and that is one of the criteria that Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill says is vital in order to have additional financial aid from the U.S. pump into a country like this.
So he put the challenge to Bono, take me to places here in Ghana where aid is working, and that's just what we did today, as we headed to a place called the alley. Let's look at that and scenes that we saw.
The alley is an area, it's another part of Accra that did have a terrible problem with flooding. And when it would rain, the alley would flood, and it would create muddy, unsanitary mess, breeding ground for mosquitoes, a big problem, so the local woman there raised $1,000, a combination of their own money and aid from outside, they fixed the drainage problem, doing much of the work themselves.
Now when they looked at this project, Secretary O'Neill saw a business model and Bono saw symbolism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAUL O'NEILL, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: These are people who are really engaged. They produce 10 percent of the money and the local group produced another 15 percent, and then they got 75 percent help, but it was really fun talking to the women who was so proud that she helped to bring the cement and the sand in. You know, I mean, it creates a good sense of community spirit, and it is not about asking people to just give us handouts. It's about participating, making life better.
BONO, U2 LEAD SINGER/ACTIVIST: The welcome is for the United States. And we are driving down the streets, people are waving, people jumping up and down, they are glad it see the United States here.
I'm telling you this, if this country doesn't get help, doesn't get the sense of a new beginning that we are all talking about today, you come back here in five years and they will be throwing rocks at the man.
So not only is it smart money in that you actually get real effect, change and transform lives with this money, the United States is seen in the world as a benevolent force at a time others would like it change -- to tell a different message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Let's be clear, the rock star on the trip pretty much is Secretary of Treasury Paul O'Neill. He is the one that represents the U.S. And for people here in this country, that means potential dollars. He is given the most attention.
In fact, if you look at the front page of "The Daily Graphic (ph)," this is the biggest paper in Ghana, it's the secretary of treasury who is on the cover. You have to look inside even to see mention of Bono.
But speaking of Bono and before I blow away here, I just want to say, he said he wasn't going to sing on this trip, but a 12-year-old girl earlier today at a vocational school asked him, he gave in. I am going to give it to you, let you look at that.
I'm being told we have to get out of here, because we are going to be blown away. So I'll get back to you as you listen to Bono, and we'll see you at the next stop in South Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
BONO: Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The man performs there in Accra, Ghana. That's got to be proof of what Bono was saying in the last hour, that we heard him say about how this world is more interconnected than it has ever been before, where he can actually go to some place like Ghana...
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: They were singing along with him in English. In English.
HARRIS: Incredible. Absolutely incredible.
Thank you very much, Daryn.
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