Obama's uncle, voxpops, mock voting as excitement builds, Kogelo prayers

(4 Nov 2008) SHOTLIST Kisumu, Kenya 1. Wide of Kisumu-Nairobi road with a big billboard of US Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama 2. Wide of busy street, people going to work 3. Various of people reading newspapers 4. Mid of newspaper headlines 5. Men looking at newspapers 6. Pan of mock election, presided over by two comedians 7. Man casting his vote 8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Thom Obingo, voter in mock elections: "OK, I voted today just to show a symbol of solidarity, we Kenyans are together with Americans. So, it is a symbol of solidarity." 9. Another man voting in mock election 10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Said Obama, uncle of Barack Obama: "I'm only praying that it (Obama's grandmother's death) doesn't affect Barack's last minute campaigns, yeah, in as much as we understand how sad he feels." 11. Cutaway of Said Obama's hands 12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Said Obama, uncle of Barack Obama: "I think it is going to affect him, only that I don't know whether it's going to cost him, I mean, the election, but I think it is going to affect him because as he has always said - this is somebody who sacrificed everything, who even had to forego buying a car so as to send him to school. And I think this is one person he could have wanted to be there and witness him becoming the president of the United States of America." 13. Said Obama talking to reporter Kogelo, Kenya 14. Wide of "Kogelo Dispensary" building 15. Wide of choir singing 16. Close of choir singing 17. Painting of Obama and other current and former world leaders 18. Wide of people dancing 19. Mid of people dancing 20. SOUNDBITE (English) Ogonyo Ngende, Bishop: ++includes simultaneous translation in local dialect++ "But now let us pray for the family of grandmother of Senator Obama in Hawaii. Father, at this moment, I stand before thee as your servant praying for peace to be in Hawaii where our grandmother has been taken to be with you in heaven." 21. Various of congregation STORYLINE Kenyans filled churches on Tuesday to pray that Barack Obama becomes the first black American president as people organised all-night election parties in honour of a candidate who is wildly popular across Africa. Support for the Democrat is particularly strong in Kenya, where Obama's late father was born about an hour's drive from the lakeside town of Kisumu. In Kisumu on Tuesday, residents held mock elections to show support for Obama and solidarity for Americans as they headed to the polls across the United States. Obama's uncle, Said Obama said he hoped the Democratic candidate wouldn't be affected by the death of his maternal grandmother a day earlier in Hawaii. In Kogelo, where Obama's step-grandmother still lives, hordes of journalists gathered and police blocked access to the family's homestead. During a service in the town to pray for Obama's success, local bishop Ogonyo Ngende offered prayers for the candidate's late grandmother, who helped bring him up. Madelyn Payne Dunham died from cancer only a few days before seeing her grandson perhaps become the nation's first black president. She was 86. Many Africans hope an Obama presidency would help the continent, the poorest in the world. Some are hoping for promises of more US aid to Africa, while others bask in the glory of a successful black politician with African roots. Kenya's two main newspapers ran Obama stories on the front page. The Standard newspaper also offered a 16-page "Obama Magic Souvenir Pullout," with photos of the candidate as a child and during his campaign. keyword us elections 2008 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...