Sarah Onyango Obama

Kenyan educator and philanthropist (1922–2021)

Hussein Onyango Obama
​
​
(m. 1941; died 1979)​
Children4; including Zeituni Onyango
Home of Sarah Onyango Obama in village Nyang'oma Kogelo in Siaya County, Kenya, August 19, 2016

Sarah Onyango Obama (1922 – March 29, 2021) was a Kenyan educator and philanthropist. She was the third wife of Hussein Onyango Obama, the paternal grandfather of U.S. president Barack Obama[1] and helped raise his father, Barack Obama Sr.[2][3] She was known by her short name as Sarah Obama and was sometimes referred to as Sarah Ogwel, Sarah Hussein Obama, or Sarah Anyango Obama.[4] She lived in Nyang'oma Kogelo village, 48 km (30 miles) west of western Kenya's main city, Kisumu, on the edge of Lake Victoria.[5][6][7]

Biography

As a young woman, Sarah Obama helped raise her stepson Barack Obama Sr. She was a firm believer in quality early education and regularly took him on her bicycle to primary school so that he could get the education she had been denied.[8]

She first met her step grandson, Barack Obama II, the future President of the United States, during his visit to Kenya in 1988.[9] Although she was not a blood relation, Barack Obama called her "Granny Sarah".[4][10] In addition to mentioning her in his memoir Dreams from My Father, he spoke about her in his 2014 speech to the United Nations General Assembly.[3] Sarah, who spoke Luo and only a few words of English, communicated with President Obama through an interpreter.

During the U.S. presidential campaign of 2008, she protested attempts to portray Obama as a foreigner to the United States or as a Muslim, saying that while Obama's grandfather had been a Muslim, "In the world of today, children have different religions from their parents."[11] At one point in her life, she worked as a cook for Christian missionaries,[2] but Sarah Obama was "a strong believer of the Islamic faith", in her words.[12] On July 4, 2008, she attended the United States Independence Day celebrations in Nairobi, hosted by Michael Ranneberger, the U.S. ambassador in Kenya.[13] The following year, she attended Barack Obama's first presidential inauguration.[3]

In 2010, she created the Mama Sarah Obama Foundation to provide food and education to orphans, even sheltering some of them in her home.[3][9]

On the occasion of the inaugural Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (November 19, 2014) at the United Nations, Sarah Obama received the Pioneer Award in Education honoring the work of her foundation.[14][2] Upon her acceptance of the award, she explained, "Our vision is a world where children are nurtured and supported physically, educationally, and emotionally to thrive and succeed in life."[15]

On March 29, 2021 it was announced that Mama Sarah had died at the age of 99,[16] in a hospital in Kisumu, Western Kenya, having suffered with an undisclosed illness a few days earlier.[2] Following her death, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta issued a statement praising her as strong, virtuous, and "an icon of family values".[2]

References

  1. ^ Oywa, John (August 15, 2004). "Kenya: Special Report: Sleepy Little Village Where Obama Traces His Own Roots (Page 2 of 2)". allAfrica.com. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e Princewill, Nimi (March 29, 2021). "Barack Obama's step-grandmother and family matriarch 'Mama Sarah' dies in Kenya". CNN.
  3. ^ a b c d Odula, Tom (March 29, 2021). "'Mama Sarah,' the Obama family matriarch in Kenya, dies at 99". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Crilly, Rob (February 27, 2008). "Dreams from Obama's Grandmother". Time Magazine, Inc. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
  5. ^ Pflanz, Mike (January 11, 2008). "Barack Obama's Kenyan relatives keep faith". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on April 16, 2008.
  6. ^ Fornek, Scott (September 9, 2007). "Sarah Obama – 'Sparkling, laughing eyes'". Chicago Sun-Times.
  7. ^ "In Kenya, Barack Obama's family prays for end to conflict – Times Online". The Times. London. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  8. ^ "Transforming Children". Leaders Online. LEADERS Magazine, LLC. January 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Treisman, Rachel (March 29, 2021). "Remembering Mama Sarah: Philanthropist And Obama Family Matriarch Dies In Kenya At 99". npr. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  10. ^ "Barack Obama in Kenya". CNN.[dead YouTube link]
  11. ^ Houreld, Katharine (March 5, 2008). "Obama's grandma slams 'untruths'". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved May 2, 2010. See also this correction.
  12. ^ Kantor, Jodi (April 30, 2007). "A Candidate, His Minister and the Search for Faith". The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  13. ^ Daily Nation, July 8, 2008: "Obama granny's day out with envoys and top politicians" Archived July 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Daily Nation, July 8, 2008
  14. ^ "Obama's Step-Grandmother Continues Educating Young Kenyans", NPR (November 22, 2014).
  15. ^ Sokol, Lori (December 23, 2014). "Why Women Entrepreneurs Matter". Huffpost. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  16. ^ Okuoro, Sara (March 29, 2021). "Mama Sarah Obama is dead". standardmedia.co.ke. Retrieved March 29, 2021.

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