Obama Fever

I don’t know if there could ever be a better time to be in Kenya than this election year. The Kenyans are excited, almost fixated, on our election and often stop us to talk about it. When we were in the Masai Mara recently we met a group of Masai men and women on holiday from Nairboi. As most Kenyans do, they asked first if we thought Obama can win. We told them we think he can. Some who had lived in the US for awhile and were well informed about the election process wondered aloud if Obama wins the popular vote could he lose the electoral vote. They asked if we thought the election would be fair or could it be rigged. One man lived in the US during GWB’s first win in 2000 and perceived that he may have “stolen” the office from Gore. Their concerns are framed in part by their own experience in Kenya with "irregular" i.e. corrupt election practices.

Obama seems to capture their imagination and inspire hope that a win by him will translate into something positive for them in Kenya. They're proud of him and his connection to their own people- the Luos here are especially proud of his Luo blood. They have little hope that their own government will uplift their standard of living or create change in their country so they look to our country with hope.

By mid-October Paul and I had still not received our absentee ballots so we downloaded one from the federal website. Colleagues here asked to witness our signature so that their name could be on the US ballot in which Barack Obama becomes, they hope, the first African-American to be elected president.

We’ve seen Obama’s image in many disparate places from the back of public transports like matatus to hanging on the wall in restaurants. A poster in HIV clinics shows him and wife Michelle getting tested for HIV during their 2006 visit. It encourages others to get tested so they’ll know their status and casts a light on the disease to decrease its stigma.

This past Monday Paul and I joined the mobile team again to go to a larger village nearby to give deworming medicine at 3 schools and to do HIV counseling and testing. A table was set up under a large sycamore tree near the lake and using a microphone and small speaker the education staff took turns talking about HIV and encouraging people to come and get tested. The locals were slow to respond. By 3PM they had only seen about 3 people. I whispered to one of our counselors to talk about the story of Obama and his wife both getting tested in 2006. So Joseph talked to them in Luo about Obama and suddenly there was a lot of cheering and thumbs up. Paul and I later learned that the team tested about 50 people and could have tested more had it not grown dark.

OK. Just a couple more Obama related stories. I assume by now only Obama supporters are still reading anyway:) (If you don't support Obama we still love you). Two weeks ago Paul and I traveled to Kisumu to meet our dear friend Jenny who is doing amazing work in HIV care with UCSF. She’s based in SF but spends 3+ months at a time in Tanzania and was able to arrange her schedule to help a colleague present a workshop in Kisumu, Kenya to coincide with our trip there to pick up mutual friends. The first night we had dinner with Jenny and her colleague Catherine at a wonderful restaurant hidden among the trees on the shores of Lake Victoria. Along with soul nourishing conversation and laughter we learned that Catherine had gotten a leather bracelet from a local artist that had Masai style beading on it saying “Obama”. She liked it so well she bought one for Jenny too. I coveted it and had to find that artist so the following day, after the excitement of picking up Becky and Judi at the airport we set out on a walking tour of Kisumu. Along the way we visited the artisan market on the grounds of the museum where we found that the bracelet had taken off. At least 3 artists were now making them –some with American flag colors, some with the green and red or Kenya’s flag and some with African colors. We bought as many as we could find for ourselves and friends at home.

The following week when we were back in Matoso, Becky, Judi and I went with the mobile clinic team to a remote area near the Tanzania border called Saume. It’s one of my favorite places to go because we see so many women and infants but also because there’s a primary school on the same grounds with the rustic church that hosts our visits. On the day we visited we lined up all the school aged kids to give them deworming medicine. One child touched my bracelet that reads “Unite for change…Obama for president”. Just for fun I had them repeat it with me….”Obama for president”…over and over until it was an exuberant chant by the Kenyan kids. They were jumping, clapping, laughing, smiling and yelling “Obama for president” over and over. We all wished we had a video of that.

Update October 28, 2008

As we've mentioned in the past, we start every work day by gathering in the courtyard with the entire staff for a song and a prayer. Afterward announcements are made and if any mail has arrived, it's handed out. This day our long awaited absentee ballots finally arrived. May of the staff encircled us to inspect them. They were very interested to see what US ballots look like and were surprised by many things. They were surprised that we can vote whether or not to retain judges. They were surprised by the number of presidential candidates (we were we!). They enjoying looking at all the amendments and their topics. Later we were able to complete them and get them back to Migori for mailing. Hopefully they'll arrive n time and for now, all we can do is wait and hope.