A new U.S. Senator wins Kenyan hearts in a landslide: a Kenyan village follows the rise of Barack Obama to the Senate--and maybe beyond.

• Author: Lacey, Marc
• Position: Africa Journal - Brief Article

When the people of Nyang'oma, Kenya, speak of good fortune coming their way now that Barack Obama has won a seat in the U.S. Senate, it is a feeling of extended family: Those who make it help those left behind.

Born to a Kenyan father and an American mother, the Democratic Senator from Illinois (who is already being talked about as a future presidential contender) traces his ancestral roots to this tiny farming community in western Kenya. His father is buried here, in the yard of a home, and his grandfather's grave is a few feet away.

Inside the tin-roofed residence, the walls are lined with family photographs--some of which feature Obama's two visits to Kenya. "I'm so proud," says grandmother Sarah Ogwel Onyango, smiling over a sack of snapshots and newspaper clippings.

A VILLAGE'S WISH LIST

Obama, 43, may never have lived in Nyang'oma, or anywhere in Kenya for that matter. But he is one of them, relatives say, and surely he will want to share his great success with his kin.

"We know he's got his constituency there in America, the people who elect him," says Said Obama, 38, an uncle...