U.S. Election: Part IV (The Africa Edition)
Noted on November 17, 2008 by Christopher Bennett in
Interns in Obama's father's land check in with African reactions to the U.S. election results. Here are comments from Nicole Chiapella (UO, Adoption Advocates International, Ethiopia); Chris Moser (OSU, CFHI South Africa); and Erin Horvath (UW, Cape Town Refugee Centre, South Africa).
Nicole Chiapella, University of Oregon, Adoption Advocates International, Ethiopia: As everyone is aware the election was last Tuesday but what you may not have known was that Wednesday was unofficially 'Obama Day' in Ethiopia! The other volunteers (Mark, Alan and Anna) and I went to the Hilton after work to watch CNN's election coverage. Since it was still morning in the States, there wasn't a whole lot going on. After we had to see a horrible piece called Back Story about how CNN reports the election we decided to let some lovely gentlemen from Ireland watch a Championship League soccer game. At midnight (after the first half and one goal) we switched it back to the election coverage and since there was still nothing being reported we decided to go home and try to stay up as late as possible checking the Internet for news. After pulling up a few news websites (who were still reporting nothing) and falling asleep trying to watch Step Brothers (awful movie- I wouldn't suggest it) we decided to go to sleep and check the Internet early the next morning. At 7AM Anna, Alan and I got up and checked NPR which was reporting encouraging statistics. But what really assured us of Obama's win was that my mom called me to tell me that McCain was giving his concession speech! After I got off the phone we were all jumping up and down and screaming that Obama had won! After we had gotten a little more sleep we went to lunch and were able to watch BBC news and watch Obama's victory speech.
Chris Moser, Oregon State University, CFHI South Africa: Everyone here is very happy for Obama, but not sure what he is going to do and how he is going to lead. The peoples reactions to Bush vary depending on our location. The PEPFAR has been very significant in the healthcare setting, and the medical people undoubtedly respect it. However, the more educated non-medical people strongly disapprove of Bush. Prior to the election, most people in both Cape Town and Durban didn't think either candidate had an advantage but there was little input and visibly less enthusiasm for McCain. In Durban, more people thought McCain would win than Obama, whereas Cape Town thought the opposite. We haven't really gotten into the politics of Obamas soon-to-be role in the White House, and I am quite excited to be back at home where everyone semi-knows what is going on.
Erin Horvath, University of Washington, Cape Town Refugee Centre: Elections down here were awesome! Most people stayed up the entire night (until 8am or so) watching the elections, while others set their alarm for 4am to start watching the results. It was such a relief for me to see the headlines for "OBAMA ELECTED NEW PRESIDENT" and to watch his speech on the TV. Everyone was very emotional the next day and even people we didn't know would randomly congratulate us on our new president. A new sense of pride was present among all the American students and interns, and people that we work with and know were all able to see it.