She first met her stepson, US President-elect Barack Obama, when he visited Kogelo village in 1988. Keziah says she was "delighted to see him" and that they have since communicated on a number of occasions.
'officially' obama's first visit to Kenya was in 1983.
then this observation: #9
Something not quite right about the dates. Malik was six in 1959 when Obama senior left for Hawaii. Now, 2008, he is 50 and Obama II is 47? Someone who tracks these issues should double check, but barring some mystical event, Obama II should therefore be around 42. How did Barack II gain 5 years on Malik?
I noticed considerable confusion re the dates during previous research. Obama sr's teacher maintains Sr left school at the age of 17 in 1953.
a further article had him married at the age of 18. That brings us to 1954.
If the eldest child was born six years from 1959 when obama sr left for the US, then the 'marriage' date of 1954 may be approximately correct.
Note to Beckwith:
Notice? There are numerous references to obama sr and Kezia's 'marriage' in 1957. Yet once again, the 'married at 18' appears to be correct.
Question: (again) when the teacher said that obama sr went to the US 'to further his education' after leaving the Maseno School:
Did obama sr perhaps go to the MAINLAND US long before he showed up in Hawaii?
This is what I have:
In 1955, at 18 years of age, Senior married a girl called Kezia from the local village.
I wouldn’t be concerned with a discrepency of a year or two in barely post-colonial Africa.
I’m always finding the same anecdote reported with different dates from different sources.
....
Senior had taken the entrance examination for the Maseno Mission School, an elite college preparatory institution which very few Africans were allowed to attend. He was admitted to this school and seemed to have a great future ahead of him, but he soon encountered disciplinary problems. He insisted on violating the rules by bringing girls into his dormitory. He and his friends stole chickens and yams from nearby farms because the dormitory food was not to their liking. At first the teachers were indulgent because Senior was such a good student, but he was caught one too many times and was expelled. When he returned home he was severely beaten by Grandfather.
Senior’s life began to change when he encountered two American women missionary teachers. They helped him to sign up for a correspondence course leading to a secondary school certificate. He took the equivalency test at the US Embassy, and passed. He then applied to numerous universities in the United States, and in 1958, with the help of Tom Mboya, won a scholarship at the University of Hawaii.
....
“[Tom Schachtman] has found that the elder Obama came in 1959 with support from the AASF but appears to have been routed a different way as he made his way to the University of Hawaii.”
From Tom Schachtman’s book, Airlift:
“As far as can be determined from incomplete records, Mrs. Roberts and Miss Mooney paid his fare to Hawaii and provided a partial scholarship.
....
Mboya, while unable to transport the twenty-three-year-old, did put him on the AASF list to receive one of the handful of scholarships contributed by the former baseball star Jackie Robinson, which the Scheinman foundation was administering, and encouraged him to look to the AASF for further help if needed, which he later did. “
....
When Senior moved to Hawaii in June of 1959, it has been well documented that he originally lived in a room at the Atherton Y.M.C.A., not far from campus. He later moved to a small, single story wooden home located at 625 11th Ave., located in the St. Louis Heights area. Senior remained at 625 11th Ave. until he left Hawaii on June 22,1962 after graduation.
....
That’s what I have — open to corrections and additions.
I have Obama’s first visit to Africa in 1985. Some reports have the visit as late as 1987.
It was Kezia, Obama Sr.’s first wife, who said, “The first time I met Barack Jr. was when he came to Kenya in 1985. He was so much like his father, his looks, his voice, everything. It was like seeing my husband all over again.”
There are other reports that place the time frame, “...four years after his father’s death.”
She first met her stepson, US President-elect Barack Obama, when he visited Kogelo village in 1988. Keziah says she was “delighted to see him” and that they have since communicated on a number of occasions.
I have the same quote with 1985 as the year.
If you start chasing dates you’re going to go nuts!