Auma Obama is fiercely protective of her half-brother -- the
President of the United States.
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."
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