One Africa & U2 Concert

Over the course of my time working for Grassroot Soccer here in South Africa, there have been a number of occasions where the perks of working at the world-class Nike Football Training Center have made themselves apparent.  Whether it be access to track suits and tennis shoes supplied to us by Nike, being able to watch professional and international soccer teams train and play, or being able to meet the multitude of activist, policy makers, and celebrities who pass through to tour the facility during there time in Johannesburg.

Last week, we were told by the Cape Town headquarters that the one, the only, legendary, world famous, internationally acclaimed, globally renowned, universally extra-super-awesome-amazing band, U2, would be coming to the Nike Center before their big concert on Sunday.

So while I’ll admit that U2 isn’t necessarily one of the most frequently played artists on my ITunes, I was still excited for the opportunity to meet and liaise with Bono, the guitar player who always wears that same beanie, and the rest of the crew.

The morning they were supposed to arrive, Tizzy, AJ and I blasted U2 in the office and played our imaginary air guitars as our South African colleagues looked at us as if we had lost our minds. When the van pulled up to the center, we all peaked our heads out of the office to be amongst the first to catch a glimpse of the guys. Then, there they were. Out of the van stepped…a group of white people I didn’t recognize at all.

Turns out Bono wasn’t coming to the Nike Center, it was members of his advocacy organization One. Initially, we were disappointed. After being under the assumption that I was going to meet U2, meeting some policy advocates on international development seemed like the worst thing in the world. Turned out to be far from it.

While I had heard and read a bit about One, we ended up learning much more about the organization and their strategies on tackling the problems of global health, extreme poverty, universal education, and a multitude of other important initiatives.

Following their visit, we were invited to be guest the following Tuesday at the “One Africa Symposium: Economic Transformation Through Transparency and Technology.” The event brought together African leaders in economics, agriculture, development, and technology for an evening of thought-provoking discussions and impressive displays of how Africans are taking great strides in some of the continents most difficult problems. It reminded me of a TEDTalk. And I’m obsessed with TEDTalks, so to experience an event like this in person and have the opportunity to meet with some of the speakers at a reception afterwards was really great. More than anything, it was an incredibly inspiring event and definitely reinforced why we’re doing the work we’re doing.

Also, and unexpectedly, we were given two tickets to attend the U2 concert at Soccer City on Sunday night. And with none of our coaches or staff really knowing who U2 is, and with Tizzy frolicking down in Cape Town, AJ and I made our way down to the stadium to rock out with our favorite Irish superstars. I had never been to a concert quite like this one, but I have to say I enjoyed it.