Degrees of Separation

Peggy writes:

"As per your request I wanted to fill you in on the Luo harp and the connection to Barack Obama. I read his book early last spring and as I was almost through with it, I came across a section where Barack Obama was talking about some of the souvenirs and letters that he brought back from his trip to Africa. If you haven't read "Dreams of My Father", this outstanding book is a book about Obama's self- discovery. He went to Africa to try to figure out who he was, to meet some relatives, and to learn about the father whom he had only met once.

"One of the letters he brought back was a letter that Barack Obama Senior had written to a college president asking about admission to his school. In the letter Obama Senior says that one of his friends suggested that he should go to an American college, and suggested that he contact this school. That woman was Helen M. Roberts, from Palo Alto.

"At the time when my grandmother knew Obama Senior she was a single woman of 70 years old living in Kenya. My grandmother went there after a career first as writer, then after working with migrants in Mountain View (California) helping them to improve their living conditions and get educated. Before going to Africa she learned Swahili and joined up with an organization called the Laubach Literacy Program which was aimed at teaching people to read and write their own languages all over the world. Although highly religious, she was not a religious missionary, but rather worked with the Kikuku, Masai and Luo peoples to try to help them get better education. Additionally she worked with young writers to help them to publish books on VD, birth control, nutrition, etc. She took a shine to those people who had a strong desire to really learn and brought one back here to California (with whom I became a good friend while I was growing up) to get her education. Obama Senior was one of these people.

"In the letter mentioned in the book, Obama Senior was told by my grandmother that he really SHOULD get a college education (with the idea of coming back to Africa afterwards to help his people). Obama Senior said that he hadn't the diploma needed to apply and my grandmother told him that if he would take some correspondence courses that she would help him to get into college.

"The rest is history. He took the courses, went to college (Univ. of Hawaii) and met and married Obama's mother.

"The harp that I brought in last week was also mentioned in the book. It is a very special instrument and there aren't lots of them. This harp is played by the Luo people only for very special occasions. The harp that I brought in was presented to my grandmother when she left Kenya and was made an honorary member of the Luo tribe. I will probably donate it to the Smithsonian or to Barack Obama himself someday. I have written Obama but know that he is far too busy with too much on his plate to deal with writing me back at this point.

"My grandmother was a very special person. She lived in Africa until she was well into her 80's but came home for births, deaths, weddings, etc. After leaving Kenya she went to what was then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe -spelling?) and worked with TV producers to produce materials that would help to better educate the african peoples who at that time really wanted to take control but lacked the tools (i.e., to do so.

"I know this is more information than you either need or want but I was delighted to share this little bit of history about the most influential woman in my life with you!"

Peggy