حفيد (الماساى) هل يحكم امريكا هو (باراك اوباما)

Quote: Obama Tours Kibera Slum The East African Standard (Nairobi) NEWS August 28, 2006 By Cyrus Kinyungu Nairobi Visiting US Senator Barack Obama directed the world's attention to the poverty in Africa when he toured Kibera, the biggest slum in the continent. But this did not stop electrified residents from giving him a befitting welcome on Sunday with shouts of "Obama has come! Open the way!", as they ran ahead of his motorcade. The Illinois Senator and his wife Michelle toured Mchanganyiko Women Self-Help Group at the heart of the slum, before proceeding to Carolina for Kibera, a HIV/Aids project. Obama revealed that this was not his first time to visit the sprawling slum neither was it the last. "Next time I come to Kenya, I will come here," he said. Obama said he first visited Kibera with his sister in 1987. Business in the slums almost came to a halt as thousands of residents jammed the roads trying to get a glimpse of the high-profile official. His motorcade was forced to drive at a snail's pace to Patricia Social Hall, where Obama met groups benefiting from micro-finance institutions. Opportunities for women Sections of the roads with potholes had been patched up ahead of his visit. The slum youth sang songs in praise of Obama and ran ahead of the motorcade as it headed to Carolina for Kibera. "I will work with the Government to bring more opportunities to this area. All of you are my brothers and my sisters," he told the ecstatic crowd when he addressed it at the end of the tour. Obama added: "Any country that develops does so because women are given opportunities and any that does not is because women are oppressed." He said women should be given more access to capital. "Girls can do what boys can do. Boys should therefore respect girls," he said after sharing with youths on the fight against HIV/Aids. He also called for an end to violence against women, saying it did not make men greater. At the Patricia hall, Obama and his family listened to experiences of small-scale traders who had benefited from loans granted by K-Rep Bank to improve their businesses. HIV/Aids grants Women narrated how they had improved their small-scale businesses, courtesy of the loans. Obama said there was need for more people to access basic capital to uplift their living standards. He commended K-Rep Bank for setting a good example. He further challenged the Government to close the capital gap between the rich and the poor. "The Kenyan Government needs to support such programmes. It is a wonderful model replicated in many parts of the world," said Obama. At Carolina for Kibera, Obama listened to young people's experiences in fighting the spread of HIV. "It is wonderful to hear what young people are doing," he Obama said. Health minister, Mrs Charity Ngilu, who was present, urged the Senator to help the country access grants for HIV/Aids drugs. "Giving us loans for drugs and equipment is not realistic. We urge you to intervene so that we can get grants," she said.

(عدل بواسطة abubakr on 08-30-2006, 00:15 AM)