Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 8:39 am CDT
KISUMU, Kenya — Michelle Obama joined her husband, Sen. Barack Obama, in taking an HIV test here today as thousands of jubuliant admirers cheered the mere sight of the man they have come to adore.
After their caravan barreled through town, the Obamas toured a medical clinic before walking up the steps into a mobile AIDS testing center. They took the test together, they said, to encourage African men and women to also be tested for the disease that effects about 15 percent of the people here.”If a U.S. senator and his wife can get tested,” Obama said, “then everyone in this crowd, everyone in this town can get tested.”
The testing center here is run by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Officials intend to make advertisements – featuring the Obamas – to encourage Kenyans to be tested.
“By him being tested, our numbers of people being tested could double,” said Joseph Thuku, a regional director for the CDC here. “I feel very honored to be giving the test.”
Fifteen minutes later, the Obamas emerged from the white trailer that was placed in the middle of a city park. They both wore smiles. Obama said they both, not surprisingly, tested negative.
If they had not, he added, “We probably wouldn’t be smiling and coming out of here.”
Obama’s tour of his late father’s homeland in the western part of this nation’s lush hill country continues. It was a chaotic and celebratory welcoming, with thousands of townspeople turning out to see their guests.
We’ll have more updates later from Kisumu and Kogelo, about an hour’s drive away, where the senator’s grandmother resides.
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