Air of anticipation in Kenya
By Ron Mott, NBC News Correspondent
KISUMU, Kenya – You can’t walk more than a few dozen paces through the downtown streets of this city of roughly 500,000 without hearing the names "Barack," "Obama," or more likely, "Barack Obama," springing forth from sidewalk conversations.
He seems to be on the minds and tongues of just about everyone here, to say nothing about all those T-shirts, bumper stickers, and colorful clothes that are fashioned into women’s dresses bearing his image. In fact, one young man made a hat that puts an ordinary 20-gallon cowboy hat to shame. It rose two feet off his head, covered with newspaper clippings about Obama.
Simply put, Kenyans are beyond excited about the prospects of a President Obama.
Kisumu is about a 90-minute drive from the rural village of K’Ogelo, where Obama’s grandmother, siblings and extended family live. It’s usually quiet and low-key in these parts, but then again, there’s nothing usual about a potential U.S. president having ties to this hard-working, farming community carved out of the forested vistas of western Kenya.
A new tourist attraction
The family’s modest property has become one of the country’s newest and most sought after tourist and international media attractions. Chain-link fencing and a green iron gate – installed to keep curiosity seekers at bay – have transformed this normally bucolic setting into a compound, with dozens of people milling about, including a rather large detail of security guards.
My photographer, Dwaine Scott, and I made the trek to K’Ogelo Monday morning with our driver, Albert. Upon our arrival, a kind gentleman approached us from the property next door, where we parked. He offered what seemed to be a well-rehearsed and oft-recited piece of advice: Please, do not photograph anything or anyone but the Obama home.
Fatigue was evident in his voice, his eyes, and his words. "None of us have slept well because of this, you understand."
We certainly do.
After finishing our assignment, we made our way out of K’Ogelo on the main dirt road, which was being given a fresh covering of earth. We joked about how the Kenyan government was getting ahead of the curve for an expected rise in traffic in coming days, weeks, months – maybe years.
Back in Kisumu, the air is thick with anticipation. Hotel workers and others have told us they plan to stay up all night watching television coverage and look forward to kicking Wednesday morning off here with the party of parties.
But first, they realize, their man must win the election.
