KENYA: Tourists visit Barack Obama's ancestral village in western Kenya as they celebrated ahead of his U.S. Presidential inauguration

Record ID: 361284

  • Title: KENYA: Tourists visit Barack Obama's ancestral village in western Kenya as they celebrated ahead of his U.S. Presidential inauguration
  • Date: 20th January 2009
  • Summary: TRADITIONAL MUSICIANS SINGING VARIOUS OF LOCAL RESIDENTS AND TOURISTS DANCING TOGETHER MORE MUSICIANS MORE DANCING
  • Embargoed: 4th February 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: International Relations,Travel / Tourism
  • Reuters ID: LVAAODRBF766JPM077O74HNZKKBV
  • Story Text: Tourists visit Barack Obama's ancestral village in Kenya, where a five-day festival is celebrating the inauguration of the 44th American president.
    Local residents of Kogelo welcomed tourists to their tiny village in western Kenya on Monday (January 19) as they celebrated ahead of Barack Obama's inauguration.
    Hundreds of locals danced to traditional Luo music at the Obama cultural festival in Obama's ancestral Kenyan home.
    Tourists from Australia and the United states shared in the celebrations, saying they felt like they were witnessing a piece of history even though they would not be at the actual inauguration.

    "I think being here in Africa and seeing just how much it has affected it, how excited the people are that Obama is in just shows how it has affected the whole world and not just America and how Obama has the power to make change because he has the power to make this many people excited - hundreds and thousands of miles away. It's exciting," said Sally Perret, a tourist from Australia.

    "Today is Martin Luther King day, so the level of emotion that you feel on a day like today that we celebrate one of our greatest leaders who paved the way for our president, and to be experiencing that here it's enough to make you... it's enough to bring tears to your eyes," added Jeff Albert, whose wife was already in Washington for the inauguration.
    Obama, will be sworn in as the 44th U.S. president on Tuesday (January 20), becoming the nation's first black president.
    The son of a black Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas, Obama is idolised by many Kenyans.
    Babies have been named after him, drinkers knock back beers in his honour and pop stars sing his praises.
    Traders have been cashing in on the flood of visitors to the ancestral village, selling Obama merchandise to those passing through Kogelo.
    Erastus Oliech travelled from Nairobi to sell T-shirts at the festival.

    "I think Barack Obama is a blessing to us and a blessing to Kenya because he has brought Kenya from far. I think so many people now know Kenya and it's going to bring a lot of opportunities, especially here. People will be coming here, it will be like a tourist attraction," said Oliech.
    Across Africa there is hope an Obama presidency will mean more U.S.
    support for the majority on the world's poorest continent.
    However, analysts have warned that Obama will be able to do little to bring tangible benefits to Africa, and that he does not have a strong track record of interest in the continent.
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