In Kenya, Obama story begins to be seen as an ocean apart

KOBAMA, Kenya - He's from the same family that produced President-elect Barack Obama. He shares many of the same hopes and dreams. He even has the same name.

This Barack Obama, 26, a cousin named after the president-elect's Kenyan father, was elated when someone with African roots rose to the world's most powerful job.

"I felt I could do anything," said the lanky student. "I felt anything is possible."

There is no question the U.S. president-elect's victory has encouraged countless Africans to reach for new heights. But as the euphoria over his election begins to fade here, young Africans are beginning to see his inspirational story as bittersweet.

As the American Obama's success is institutionalized in pictures in schools and buses and in speeches in parliament promoting change, many are coming to see his against-the-odds accomplishment as something that was really only possible in the United States.

In Africa, money, ethnicity and family connections still count more toward success than does hard work. Bribes usually trump talent; corruption tops integrity. Young Africans hoping to follow in Obama's footsteps might face disappointment and disillusionment.

"The hope might be false," said youth activist Joshua Nyamori. "Today Obama's story is not possible in Kenya. If Barack ran in Kenya, he would have failed."

Last month, the president-elect's cousin finished his college exams and is hitting the pavement in search of work as an electrical engineer. But fewer than half of Kenya's university graduates find employment, and this Barack Obama is feeling decidedly more somber about his future. He can count only two of his friends in four years who have been hired after graduation.

"We have diplomas but no jobs," he said. "It's almost a waste of time."

Yet all around him is Obama-inspired hype. From the campus of Sen. Barack Obama Secondary School to Obama's ancestral homestead, teachers, parents and elders wag fingers at the young, repeating the mantra: See what can happen if you work hard?

At Obama Secondary School, in rural western Kenya, officials say students were so electrified by the U.S. election that teachers are expecting to see an improvement in year-end test scores.

"Young people are clamoring for change," said the principal, Yuanita Obiero.

One of the school's top-ranking students, Lillian Boyi, 16, wonders whether hard work will ever be enough. She studies 12 hours a day, six days a week, and dreams of going to medical school. But there is a book shortage, and no computer or science lab. On average, only two graduates a year from the senior class of about 40 make it to college.

Nationwide, the odds aren't much better. Fewer than half of Kenyan children make it to high school. Fewer than 5 percent go to college.

Even if Lillian is one of the lucky few, her parents, who are farmers, lack tuition money. "In Kenya, you can work hard but still find yourself with nothing," she said.

After Kenya's disputed presidential election last year, frustration levels soared among young people. Ethnic clashes killed more than 1,000 people. Thousands rioted, looted, and burned their voting cards in protest.

Months later, riots and arson attacks swept across high school campuses as young people protested poor conditions, teacher maltreatment, and rigorous test schedules.

President-elect Obama became a role model for many Kenyans. But the story of the other Barack Obama, the electrical-engineering student, shows how the best-laid plans can come up against the harsh realities of Africa.

He dreamed of becoming a doctor. But his father died of malaria when he was a young boy. Then in high school, he lost his mother to cancer.

An uncle made sure he finished his studies, and he applied for medical school. But a Nairobi college twice rejected his application. The family blames tribalism and nepotism. He ended up in a less prestigious polytechnic school. "It's all a matter of who you know," he said.

Nyamori, the youth activist, said it might be another generation before Kenya offers the same opportunities as in the United States. Still, he said, the story from across the ocean is vital to young people.

"Hope is the thing that gives you the strength to wake up," he said. "Even false hope is better than no hope at all."