--- description: President Obama made time to meet with family on the first night of his four-day trip to Kenya and Ethiopia title: President Obama Dines With Relatives in Kenya image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt168e45227d6cac51/69885c6635ba6f6ed5c0e565/obama-family.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Obama Dines With Relatives in Kenya by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 24, 2015 7:49 PM CUT  US President Barack Obama sits alongside his step-grandmother, Mama Sarah, left, and half-sister Auma Obama, right, during a gathering of family at his hotel in Nairobi on July 24, 2015. US President Barack Obama sits alongside his step-grandmother, Mama Sarah, left, and half-sister Auma Obama, right, during a gathering of family at his hotel in Nairobi on July 24, 2015.Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 24, 2015 7:49 PM CUT President Obama made time to meet with family on the first night of [his four-day trip to Kenya and Ethiopia](http://time.com/3970332/obama-africa-kenya-ethiopia/ "undefined"). About three dozen of the President’s relatives joined him for dinner on Friday, including his half sister Auma and his step-grandmother Mama Sarah. Obama is in Kenya for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, of which he is co-chair. His trip marks the first time a sitting U.S. president has traveled to both Kenya and Ethiopia, but the trip also has historical significance given Obama’s personal connection to the East African nation. Obama’s father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born in Kenya and later died there. Obama was born in Hawaii. Per the White House pool report on Friday’s dinner: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3971776/barack-obama-kenya-trip/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3971776/barack-obama-kenya-trip/"},"headline":"President Obama Dines With Relatives in Kenya","datePublished":"2015-07-24T19:49:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:34:39.915Z","description":"Obama is in Kenya for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, but made time for family on Friday","url":"https://time.com/3971776/barack-obama-kenya-trip/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","Foreign Policy","Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt168e45227d6cac51/69885c6635ba6f6ed5c0e565/obama-family.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt168e45227d6cac51/69885c6635ba6f6ed5c0e565/obama-family.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"KENYA-US-OBAMA","caption":"KENYA-US-OBAMA","creditText":"Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3971776/barack-obama-kenya-trip/","name":"President Obama Dines With Relatives in Kenya"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Obama Gets Red Carpet Treatment In Kenya","description":"It was a warm welcome for President Obama as he arrived in his ancestral homeland of Kenya for the first time as president.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/rzPsKDl1/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-25T15:41:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rzPsKDl1.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3971776/barack-obama-kenya-trip/","duration":"PT1M6S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3971776/barack-obama-kenya-trip/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```