SOWETO, South Africa - Walking the muddy streets of this poor black township, they make the most unlikely duo.
Irish rocker Bono, the Grammy Award-winning lead singer of U2, looks like he has slept in his clothes. He's unshaven, his hair a black mop, his eyes hidden behind his blue wraparound sunglasses.
By his side, the no-nonsense Republican Paul H. O'Neill, a former corporate executive turned U.S. Treasury secretary, is decked out in a well-pressed gray suit as if he were about to step into a board meeting.
But the pair has a shared mission: to understand how foreign aid is put to use in Africa and how it can be spent more wisely.
They looked for answers yesterday in the crooked alleys of this township of 1.5 million people, meeting with HIV-positive mothers and touring newly built houses for the homeless.
Bono, 42, whose real name is Paul Hewson, and O'Neill, 66, visited South Africa on the second leg of their four-nation tour of Africa. They arrived in South Africa from Ghana - where they managed to look different from each other even when wearing similar local garb. They are on their way to Uganda and Ethiopia next week.
The tour has been billed as a contest between the travelers' philosophies of foreign aid. O'Neill is well known for his criticism of aid programs that cost millions but have little to show for their efforts. Bono, who has used his fame to become one of the most outspoken advocates for the world's poor, wants to encourage the United States and Europe to spend more to combat Africa's woes, especially AIDS.
When the two met for the first time last year, O'Neill said he was impressed with Bono's knowledge of the continent. They later planned the trip to Africa.
They are clearly benefiting from the arrangement. O'Neill's tour is drawing far more media attention because of Bono's star power. And Bono, always at his side, is in a perfect position to use his more than gentle powers of persuasion to encourage O'Neill to see Africa his way.
Speaking about the need for more money to combat acquired immune deficiency syndrome in Africa, Bono turned to O'Neill and announced: "I think the secretary will be able to send one message back to the president. This is an emergency, isn't it?"
"We the world have got to deal with this problem. ... This is doable," O'Neill said, adding: "It may even be doable with the resources already available here."
