Under a gleaming hot African sun, 1,000 schoolchildren got a very special history lesson last week. The kids sat on a grassy hill in a village outside the city of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Their teacher was U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Clinton told them that "the United States has not always done the right thing by Africa." But "perhaps the worst sin," he confessed, "was the sin of neglect and ignorance."
With his historic 12-day, six-nation trip through Africa, Clinton hopes to make amends for these mistakes. He wants to reach out to Africans and change the way Americans view that continent. For years Americans have paid little attention to Africa. The U.S. has missed opportunities to stop wars and aid countries that are moving toward democracy. And U.S. companies have been slow to develop business with Africa. Only 1% of U.S. exports go to Africa. Only 2% of African goods come to the U.S.
Clinton would like Americans "to see the new Africa with new eyes." Traveling with his wife Hillary, he is the first U.S. President to visit Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana and Senegal while in office.
The President began his visit in Ghana, where he was greeted with almost frightening enthusiasm. A crowd of hundreds of thousands surged toward him. It looked as if people would be crushed. "Back up! Back up!" Clinton yelled.
Help For Africa's Children
In Uganda, his next stop, the President visited a school to emphasize the country's focus on education. Uganda, like most of Africa, is very poor. The average yearly income per person is
only $260.
The children who greeted Clinton wore brightly colored uniforms and big smiles. But their classrooms had dirt floors, and some had no roofs. Africa's schools are in need of books, supplies and money.
Half of Africa's people cannot read or write. While in Uganda, Clinton promised to give $120 million over the next two years to help improve education. He also pledged money to combat disease and increase food production. "We want to help you," he said. "We want to see the lights that are in these children's eyes in their eyes forever."
Clinton met with six African Presidents in Uganda. The leaders pledged to respect human rights.
An Emotional Journey
During the trip, there were moments of joy and of deep sadness. In Uganda, shopkeeper Betty Namugosa handed the President her two-day-old baby. The infant's name: Bill Clinton. "Oh, he's beautiful!" said the President, as he cradled the baby.
In Rwanda, Clinton was close to tears when he met with survivors of war. In 1994, a million people died in a brutal civil war there. Clinton listened to tales of senseless killings. He apologized for the failure of the U.S. and others to step in.
In South Africa, Clinton met with President Nelson Mandela. Together they visited Robben Island, where Mandela had spent 18 years in prison. His crime: fighting for the rights of black South Africans. Mandela called Clinton "the leader of the free world" and challenged the U.S. to set an example as a peacemaker.
Another highly emotional moment will occur when Clinton visits Senegal's Goree Island. For more than 200 years it was a center for the slave trade. In a stone building called the House of Slaves, Africans were herded into cramped holding pens to await passage to the New World. Their last contact with their homeland before boarding slave ships came at the Door of No Return.
Many people would like Clinton to offer African Americans an official apology for slavery. The President came close to making that apology in Uganda. "Going back to the time before we were even a nation, European Americans received the fruits of the slave trade," Clinton admitted. "And we were wrong in that."
The President insists this trip is not about the past but about the future. "Our futures will be brighter," said Clinton, "as we let go of our hatreds and as we realize that what we have in common really does matter far more than our differences."
A Look At Africa