On the morning of the 8th, we were happy to wake up at Sunset Hotel (it really was sooooper...internet access and all!) which allowed us to do our last update. After coffee and blogging, we anxiously awaited the arrival of Justus (who is always on time) to get back on the road to head to Kogelo, the home village of Obama's father. We had the highest of hopes to actually meet his grandmother, Mama Sarah, who still lives in the home in which she raised her son, Barack Obama Sr. We knew that she was often there for tours (because we researched them and decided against formally taking one, as they were charging $250 per person for one night of accomodations and transport to Kogelo from Kisumu), so we were hopeful that we could roll up and meet her. We even jotted down some interview questions, just in case.
After an hour and a half drive, we pulled onto a winding dusty road with a sign indicating that Senator Barack Obama Secondary School was just a few kilometers down the road. The school in the village was renamed after Obama's visit in 2006 (and there is a new school under construction and waiting for more funds). We were so excited and it felt a bit unreal to be there...one part of Obama's memoir, "Dreams from my Father" that Mer particularly enjoyed were the reflective walks Obama took down that road when he was there visiting at the age of 25...it just felt cool to be on that road. It was also a bit sad driving down the road, too, because the extent of poverty was quite obvious. So many of the people, especially kids, were so thin and malnourished.
Like tourists, we missed the unmarked turn off for Mama Sarah's house and continued on until we felt like we had gone way too far and stopped to ask the group of about 20 women and children washing clothes in the river, where the house was. Yet another reason we were so thankful to have Justus as our driver rather than attempting these trips alone...our Kiswahili is pretty much limited to, hey how are you, thank you, and i'm doing great. They directed us back down the road and to make a left at the turn off. We pulled up to find a tour bus parked out front and two army officials sitting at the front of the lawn.
We showed our passports, signed in, and made our way from the unfriendly guys in uniform to the circle of about 15 handmade wooden chairs sitting under a huge mango tree (also often referenced in Obama's memoir). Nelson, who would be the translator, seated us amongst the 4 other American tourists (who were in Kenya working at an orphanage) and the two gigantic turkeys wandring about the lawn. Not two minutes later, Mama Sarah came walking up and welcomed us to her home by coming around and shaking each of our hands, saying "welcome" in Luo, her mother tongue, and in English. (Though that seemed to be nearly the extent of her English...every other word spoken was in Luo). It was a beautiful day and we sat for just over an hour on the lawn having a conversation with her and couldn't believe how lucky we were.
She asked for questions and the others spoke up first, asking questions we thought were silly, such as, "did Obama's father grow up here?" Uhhhh.... We were able to ask questions about what the village thought of Obama Sr. when he headed to Hawaii for college (they were very proud but shocked, yet confident that he would return). We asked what she thought high school students in the US should know about Kenya, and she responded that it is a beautiful country with a lot of potential but also with a lot of struggle. Jobs are scarce and poverty is high. The desire for education is everpresent but the money for school fees is not available. When food is scarce, particularly in a drought, any money is spent on food and not school uniforms, so kids are unable to attend. She thought that our kids should know that they should travel to Kenya and share their ideas and help motivate children (and if at all possible, any financial assistance). We had an interesting conversation about the obvious importance of education and the barriers that stand in its way, for both kids in Kenya and some kids in certain contexts in the States.
She also shared information about the work she was doing with orphans (mostly of parents who are dying from AIDS). She said she was grateful for Obama's election for many reasons but especially for the assistance the tourism is affording her village. She asked for any small donation for school fees for the orphaned children, and for the farming school that was underway next to us on the other half of her front lawn. She has hired a tiny staff to train individuals how to make wells and pump water and how to farm more productively. About 10 women were partaking in the training while we were there, which was so awesome to see. Mama Sarah is quite the activist and said multiple times how, despite getting tired sometimes (she's 87), she apprecieates every single visitor and sees them as blessings she would never turn away.
After our chat, we took picutres with her and then walked over to the gravestones of Barack Obama Sr. and his father, which are just 10 steps to the left of where we were sitting. We paid our respects, shook hands with Mama Sarah once again, thanked her, and headed out feeling so lucky for the hour just spent. We couldn't believe we had just chatted with an incredible woman whom we admired so much for her life and her work (and, of course, her grandson). What an incredible morning. (we video taped almost the whole thing so you can watch it when we get home!)
Back on the road...we stopped back through Kisumu at a grocery store to get some bread and PB&J for a quick eat on the road. We spent most of our time in the store looking for the least expired food...we found some that had only expired in June of 09, so we were on our way (that sandwiches tasted like doodoo, by the way, but it was all good). We had planned to drive to Kisii, a town south of Kisumu, so that we could go meet Justus's mother and brother who still lived on the land on which he was raised. His mother had just gotten out of the hospital that morning so since we were so close (well, about two hours south and then about 2 hours back to Kericho where we planned to stay for the night), we thought we'd make the trip. This plan, however, would have given us only 1/2 hr to visit so that we could get back to Kericho before nightfall. Although we really wanted to meet his family, we thought it best that he take us directly to kericho where we could find a hotel among the crazy beautiful and lush tea fields, so that he might be able to go to Kisii and stay the whole night and also have the morning to be with his mom. He loved the idea, so we found a great hotel, The Tea Hotel, and had the whole late afternoon to sip tea and read our books on the beautiful lawn.
We had a great little cottage, quite inexpensive for the quality, and especially in comparison to some of the other places we had stayed (we def. underbudgeted cost of hotels here...and we are finding the quality of some of the midrange are nearly as nice as the high cost places...overall, we might say tourists don't quite get what they pay for in terms of hotels here). Anyway, the Tea Hotel was great, the staff incredibly friendly (and LOVED seeing the pics of Obama's grandma). We had a very relaxing and reflective night and went to bed early so that we could be up early for our tea plantation tour the next morning! We love Kericho! (and had fun fantisizing about moving there and teaching at the Teachers College...don't worry, it was just a thought).
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