Screaming crowds welcome U.S. senator 'home'

KISUMU, Kenya (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of Kenyans lined the streets of Kisumu on Saturday, giving U.S. Sen. Barack Obama a hero's welcome as he arrived to visit the nearby village where his late father and grandfather lived.

Massive crowds screamed "Obama, Obama" and waved flags emblazoned with his name and face, as the 45-year-old junior senator from Illinois rode through the streets in a truck flanked by a lengthy convoy.

"I greet you all," he shouted in the local language, Luo, waving.

Many people wore T-shirts dedicated to the Democratic Party's rising star, who was received like a head of state, if not a rock star. (Watch Obama's grandmother and others sing and dance in celebration -- 2:21)

"I just want to say very quickly that I am so proud to come back home," Obama told them, according to The Associated Press. "It means a lot to me that the people of my father, my grandfather, are here in such huge crowds."

Obama and his wife, Michelle, used the spotlight to encourage Africans to get tested for AIDS, an action that carries a deep social stigma in Africa. In front of crowds, the couple had their blood drawn at a U.S.-run testing center.

"I and my wife are personally taking HIV tests. And if someone all the way from America can come and do that, then you have no excuse," he announced.

Among Kenya's 32 million people, some 1.2 million were infected with HIV as of 2004, according to AP. Some 700 people die each day from AIDS-related illnesses, and in the Kisumu area, nearly one in five is infected, AP reported.

"If you know your status, you can prevent illness," AP quoted Obama as saying. "You can avoid passing it to your children and your wives."

Obama also visited a secondary school recently renamed for him. Throughout the week, children practiced a newly written song dedicated to him. "Thank you for making us so proud," they sang.

Obama also went to visit his grandmother Sarah, who told CNN beforehand, "The first thing I'll do is give him a big hug and tell him how proud we are of his achievements. " She said she had not seen her grandson for 14 years.

He presented her with gifts of salt, sugar, bread, tea and crackers, and the two walked through the village together before she ushered him inside her home, AP reported.

Nearby were the graves of his father and grandfather.

They shared a meal of roast meat and porridge with chicken and cabbage, according to AP.

"His success is really fantastic," AP quoted her as saying through her granddaughter Auma.

While Obama's father hails from this impoverished village in western Kenya, near Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria, his mother comes from Kansas. Obama's father died more than 20 years ago after moving back to Africa when Obama was very young.

Although his father was not in Obama's life for most of his childhood, the senator has talked openly about a sense of connection to his African heritage.

Obama has visited the region before, but this is the first time since his election to the Senate two years ago. The Kenya visit is considered the climax of his two-week, four-nation African tour, AP reported.

That election and his prominent speech at the 2004 Democratic convention turned the attorney and father of two into an overnight political sensation.

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