Dreams from Obama's (Kenyan) Grandmother [View All]

[RamboLiberal]

Several thousand miles and a world away, Barack Obama is campaigning to change American politics. But in the tiny farmstead where his father used to herd goats, his Kenyan relatives are praying for anything but more political upheaval. "We are spending sleepless nights praying that peace will prevail," says the 86-year-old woman whom the presidential contender calls Granny Sarah.

The Obamas' home has been spared the violence that has wracked Kenya since President Mwai Kibaki was sworn in for a controversial second term two months ago. More than 1,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands more uprooted, forced to return to their tribal homelands as waves of political violence brought decades of ethnic tension into the open.

Outside the Obama home, calves are grazing on the thick green grass that grows here in one of Kenya's most fertile regions. Plowed fields stand ready to be sown with maize. And scrawny chickens peck for grubs in the shade of mango trees. Inside, Granny Sarah's simple sitting room is plastered with black-and-white photographs of Obama Senior — the stepson she raised as her own — alongside Obama Junior's campaign posters.

Her eyes sparkle as she talks of her pride at his success and how he will make a fine President. "He is very loving and very hardworking and never had to be told what to do," she says, pointing out a photograph of a young, gangly Obama with a sack of vegetables over his shoulder during his first visit to Kenya. "Even though he is very learned, he's a very good listener and respects the opinions of others." A chicken wanders in through the open door and Granny Sarah hauls herself out of her chair to shoo it away.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1717590,00.html



Awwww!