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Sarah Onyango Obama

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This article is about the third wife of the paternal grandfather of U.S. President Barack Obama. For her stepdaughter of the same name, see Sarah Obama.

Sarah Onyango Obama
Obama in 2014
Born
Sarah Okech

1921 or 1922
Kenya Colony
DiedMarch 29, 2021(2021-03-29) (aged 98–99)
Kisumu, Kenya
Known forMama Sarah Obama Foundation; U.S. President Barack Obama's step-grandmother
Spouse
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

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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

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  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. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. 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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