Wednesday, June 23, 2010

So many matches, so little time...

Two hours 'til the US - Algeria game and finding it hard to concentrate. And if I'm excited for that, the Ghanians in the room are practically jumping out of their seats looking forward to the Ghana - Germany match tonight.

There's no lack of places to watch the game in Accra -- the hotel here is hosting a huge party for the game. Same with all the five stars. But given how on-fire the whole country is around the match, it's interesting to think about how or where much of the country will watch... especially those living in slums or rural areas outside the city. I think about my recent trip to Mathare, a large slum in Kenya. One of the residents proudly showed his business -- a television inside a fairly small shack, which he estimates could hold 250+ people to watch the World Cup.

In rural Ghana, many towns are off the grid and do not have access to power. I'm feeling less cynical about the hotel sign I saw earlier this week on watching World Cup on renewable energy. I read an article this morning about that same organization, World Future Council, partnering with a renewable energy company in Ghana, to bring the World Cup to remote villages in Ghana through solar energy. While displaying the game on solar energy at a hotel resort seems a bit silly, doing the same in a remote village seems extremely empowering. It's pretty interesting, really -- leveraging the emotional and national pride of World Cup to strengthen support for renewable energy.

And in the meantime... Go Black Stars!! Go USA!!

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