Masoud Salim - Zanzibar's Obama

Our best friend on the island is without a doubt Masoud. He's a young local politician, who Kim met through Abercrombie & Kent, with a lovely personality and a smile that fills an entire room. During Obama's campaign, Masoud initiated a grassroots campaign which started with spray painting his shoes with Obama's name and later creating an 'Obama' tree which served as his unofficial campaign office. During his campaign, where he was constantly adorned with an Obama pin and was requesting local signatures in support of Obama for president, it wasn't clear if he wanted to continue in politics but now he is committed to be Zanzibar's president one day. In the photo above, Masoud is showing us what a few of the youth in town do when they see him, "Oh Obama Boy!"
 
Masoud was born in the Congo and was raised there until 1999, when his family decided to flee because the government was involved in coups and partisan fighting in Rwanda. Even two of his brothers barely escaped involvement with the militia, one being too small to carry a gun (8) the other (12) saved by his parents when they discovered he wanted to join because of his friends. Talking about his past is probably the only time I've seen Masoud quiet and serious. Two minutes later, though, he was back 'on,' smiling, giggling and being his usually happy self.
 
We went out dancing with Masoud and his friend 'G' last weekend and it was quite a night. Although we left early, (1am) they stayed out until 6. Partly because of his strong commitment to his Islamic faith and partly because he lacks the desire, Masoud doesn't drink alcohol. Instead, he prances around the dance floor, moving his body like a caterpillar and making us giggle until our bellies hurt. A few days ago, Masoud came over for dinner, he has been over twice this week, while we were having a power outage. After dinner, we had a dance off while Nini and Kim laughed from the sidelines. He is charming, soft spoken, fun, confident, kind, classy and one of a kind and we feel very lucky to have him be part of our family while we live here.

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