She calls it "self-preservation."
Auma
Obama welcomed CNN's Brooke Baldwin exclusively into the family home of
the President's ancestral village -- even introducing her to their
shared 93-year-old step-grandmother, Mama Sarah.
And,
it became apparent in the few days Baldwin spent with the woman who
shares a father with the American leader that, even growing up on
opposite ends of the earth, Barack and Auma Obama are family.
"I
love my brother. What can I say? I mean it's interesting that we met
quite late in life. We hit it off -- and yeah -- he's my brother --
that's why we don't do the half thing," she said.
Auma Obama commented on the President's rendition of "Amazing Grace" during his eulogy for the pastor and victims killed in last month's Charleston church shooting.
"I'm surprised he sang so well," she said.
Barack
and Auma first met in Chicago when they both were in their twenties,
after the President invited her to the United States in a letter. While
their shared last name has opened many doors for Auma Obama, she's built
a Kenya-based foundation, Sauti Kuu, from the ground up.
It has become her life's mission to help disadvantaged children bring themselves out of poverty and become self-sustaining.
She
considers herself a strong woman -- taking a page from the likes of her
sister-in-law, Michelle Obama, for whom she was a bridesmaid, and
Hillary Clinton, who she calls a "friend."
"I
got to know her and she was really nice, I was really impressed with
her. Strong woman -- really strong woman," Auma Obama said of the
presidential candidate.
Standing before
Barack Hussein Obama, Sr.'s grave, Auma Obama shared intimate details
about their "misunderstood" father, who President Obama last saw when he
was just 10-years-old.
She said their father would be proud of what his son, the American commander-in-chief, has achieved.
"I'm proud of our name because my brother really has carried our name up there," she said. "It's made our mark in the world."
"It
tells every child that if you work hard -- you can do whatever you want
in this world. You can make your future. So, what I'm trying to do
here, he has done."
CNN
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