Celebrating the Life and Times of Sarah Obama
President Obama’s Iconic Granny in Kenya transitioned, March 29, 2021
Sarah Onyango Obama born 1922 was a Kenyan educator, philanthropist, and strong, virtuous woman, an icon of family values who held together the Obama family, died at 99 years old. She was the third wife of the paternal grandfather of U.S. president Barack Obama who lived in Nyang’oma Kogelo village, west of western Kenya’s main city, Kisumu, on the edge of Lake Victoria.
Ms. Obama, called “Granny Sarah” by President Obama but she was not a blood relative. However, she spoke very little English, while her native language was Luo, but he used an interpreter to communicate with her. Ms. Obama was the second wife of President Obama’s grandfather and helped raised his father, Barack Obama Sr. Their first meeting took place during his trip to his father’s homeland in 1988, and was a bit awkward but evolved into a warm bond.
Her life journey evolved from her being a cook for Christian missionaries as she championed education and was a staunch supporter of her grandson where she protested many attempts to portray President Obama as a foreigner in the United States or as a Muslim. She stated, “In the world of today, children have different religions from their parents.” Ms. Obama was a strong believer of the Islamic faith.
Some of her accomplishments included the 2014 Pioneer Award from the United Nations for her work on a education foundation that she headed, part of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. She diligently promoted education for girls and orphans in her rural village of Kogelo as mobilized funds to pay school feeds for the orphans. She even raised some of the orphans in her home. Her “Mama Sarah Obama Foundation” provided food and education to children who lost their parents, taking care of school supplies, uniforms, basic medical needs along with school fees. Her goal was for others not to be illiterate, so she saw to it that all her family’s children went to school. She often spoke how she ferried her son Barack six miles to school on the back of her bicycle everyday from Kogelo to the bigger town of Ngiya to make sure he got an education that she never had. Her desire was all children to be educated and especially for girls to be self-sufficient because often they had no opportunity to go to school. She stated, “If a woman gets an education, she will not only educate her family but educate the entire village.”
In conclusion, we celebrate the life and times of a great activist lady, President Obama’s Paternal Granny, who lived a life helping others ensuring all to get the education that she never got early in life but gained via educating others. RIP.
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