Guardian: Bill Clinton In The Highlands Of Ethiopia
He dropped out of the sky and left, an hour or so later, the same way, helicopter rotor blades driving a gritty dust storm from the dirt playing field into the faces of hundreds of Ethiopian hill villagers. They waved and clapped and shook the hand of a white-haired man who used to hold the most powerful office on the planet and who has just failed to help his wife secure it in her turn. Yet the people of Rema had no idea who William Jefferson Clinton was or what he was doing in their village.
One man knew the name, though his wife looked blank. "Clinton," said Awke Tiruneh, whose hut the president had been due to visit but didn't, because of the tight schedule powerful men run to. "He is from Germany." It is the only foreign country Tiruneh has heard of, because a German NGO is based on Rema's doorstep, but he has not a clue where either Germany or America are. The outside world is the village on top of the next hill, a long, rocky walk down one mountain and up another.
Listen to Audio Clip of Interview.
