Obama's ancestral home
U.S. President Barack Obama will land in Kenya with a mission to strengthen U.S. security and economic ties, but his personal connection to his father's birthplace will dominate a trip that Kenyans view as a native son returning home.
Obama’s ancestral village of Kogelo is home to his step-grandmother Sarah Hussein Obama as well as burial place of his father. While in Kenya Obama will spend private time with family members but will not travel to the village that is most closely associated with the family name, White House officials said.
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Obama will give a speech in Nairobi to the Kenyan people, which is likely to highlight his personal connection to the country. As well as the final resting place of his father, a Kenyan government economist who died in 1982, the ancestral village holds the grave of the President’s grandfather.
"Just as anybody is curious about their heritage, visiting Kenya provides him an opportunity to make that personal connection," said Valerie Jarrett, a senior aide and family friend of Obama.
Rosa Anyango carries a bag with the colours of the U.S. flag as she walks from the market in Kogelo.
A man walks near wooden stalls at the trading centre in Kogelo.
Pork is displayed in the window of a butcher's shop.
A dog plays with a pig in the village of Kogelo.
Patricia Anyango arranges fish at her stall.
Florence Adhiambo Goro, a vendor, is reflected through boiling cooking-oil as she prepares doughnuts.
A boy stands outside a maize-mill.
Customers wait to be served at a chemist.
Mary Adhiambo cleans laundry outside her house in the village of Kogelo.
Pupils play during breaktime at the Senator Obama primary school.
A boy plays during breaktime at the Senator Obama primary school.
Boys walk home for lunch from school.
A motorbike taxi carries three passengers past the trading centre.
Gold prospectors work at an open-pit mine in the village of Kogelo.
Gold prospectors pose for a photograph at an open-pit mine in Kogelo.
The graves of Obama’s father and grandfather lie in Kogelo.
A Ministry of Health notice and price list is displayed in Kogelo Dispensary.
