The first few days traveling to Kenya with journalist Edwin Okong'o was like riding a wild horse bare back. We arrived in Nairobi on a Friday evening. The plan was to take a couple of days to try to get settled and set up interviews and shoots for the coming week. By 4AM Saturday morning, I could have a written a travel feature on the capital city's nightlife. Usually, the pressures of getting the story and filming enough to create a high quality television program keep me in my hotel room pouring over the schedule trying to find room for one more set-up or one more interview. This trip, and this story, was different.
Edwin had pitched the project, about Obama's popularity in Kenya, to Frontline World as part of a larger international reporting project, 2008 Election The Whole World is Watching. It was a co-production with PRI (Public Radio International).
I had been reading Obama's first book, Dreams from my Father, and it had appealed to me because of my sometimes strained relationship growing up with my father. While reading some of Edwin's blogs I noticed he also mentioned tension with his dad as something that had helped shape him. I asked Edwin if he would be willing to try to incorporate some of his personal story into our film. It was a little risky, we had just met and talked on the phone maybe twice. I didn’t want Edwin to think that I was trying to take over the direction of the piece. But we both agreed it was worth a try.
So our sojourns into the Nairobi night were part of a bonding experience, a way of building trust with each other. When you put back a few dozen Pilseners, you talk about things with a certain disregard for what is proper and you let your guard down. Edwin had no difficulty sharing stories of his rough childhood with me and on camera became comfortable reporting and sharing personal insights. When a journalist opens up to an audience and relates things personal, the audience tends to absorb the reporting in the piece more deeply. When Edwin tells us about the constant requests from his family to improve the lot of his village, we gain insight into what is being asked of and expected of Obama from his Kenyan cousins. Edwin's knowledge of the complex social and political circumstances that exist in Kenya were also critical. In the end, the mixture of good reporting and personal storytelling made this piece special.
"Sweet Home Obama" has a little something for everyone; nationalism, tribalism, election politics, the pressures and bonds of family and an overall sense of the love that Kenyans feel for Obama and for their country. But what helped the piece win a Webby People's Choice Award, I believe, was Edwin's courage to share his own story and compare his own plight to that of our current President's.
Watch the video and read more about Edwin's experience here: Sweet Home Obama
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