This month, crowds of people are taking to the streets of Kenya for a different reason than political discontent.  They’ve found a new identity in U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, whose father was born in this land served by Maryknoll Sisters for almost 40 years.

A world away from America’s shores, Barack Obama’s image is adorned on billboards and minibuses all across Kenya. When word reached east Africa that Obama had been elected to America’s highest office, Kenya’s president declared a national holiday.

Maryknoll Sister Margaret Rose Winkelmann, for one, would like to join in the fanfare. For years, Sister Margaret Rose served in mission in Tanzania, near Kenya’s western border. As a young Maryknoll Sister, Margaret Rose was part of our first mission team there.