Barack Obama took his first post-presidential trip to Kenya, his father’s homeland, this week in support of half-sister Dr. Auma Obama’s foundation, which recently launched a sports, training and vocational center.
Obama’s foundation, Sauti Kuu, aims to provide economic opportunities for young people in rural Kenya, according to The Associated Press. The new sports center will help the nation’s youth acquire new skills through education and athleticism, states the foundation’s website.
“Given that his own mission under the Obama Foundation is to inspire and empower people to change the world, his attendance at this event at our ancestral home, where our father was laid to rest, is of great significance to me,” Auma said last month, according to CNN.
The former president also met with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who recently made amends after a combative election resulted in violence throughout the country.
He also paid a visit to Nyang’oma Kogelo, the small hilltop village where his father was raised.
“It’s a joy to be here with family, and to be here with so many who claim to be my family,” he told the invitation-only crowd.
Following his Kenyan trip, the former president headed to South Africa where he is currently meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa to speak at an event in honor of the late Nelson Mandela’s birthday in Johannesburg.
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