The Kennedy Airlifts

Through the lens of photographer Mohamed 'Mo' Amin, learn more about the impact of the Kennedy Airlifts.

Minister of Economic Planning and Development, Tom Mboya (1969) by Mohamed AminMohamed Amin Foundation

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Investing in education

John F. Kennedy, his brother Bobby Kennedy, and politician Tom Mboya arranged The Kennedy Airlifts in 1959 and 1960 that saw hundreds of East Africans get scholarships to study in the United States, one of the more famous being Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai.  

Tom Mboya with Ethel Kennedy, wife of Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1966) by Mohamed AminMohamed Amin Foundation

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Tom Mboya seen here with Mrs Ethel Kennedy, wife of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

Tom Mboya waves to friends at Nairobi Airport, Kenya (1962) by Mohamed AminMohamed Amin Foundation

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A man with a vision

Tom Mboya went from Catholic school student, at a time when Africans were still told what to do by white colonial masters and had little access to education, to a visionary thinker whose ideas about education would prepare his people for nationhood.

Robert F. Kennedy by Mohamed AminMohamed Amin Foundation

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A love for Africa

The Kennedys had a great love for Africa and Bobby and Ethel Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy Jnr., and Jackline Onassis Kennedy visited numerous times.

Mohamed Amin with Robert Kennedy (1964) by Mohamed AminMohamed Amin Foundation

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Mo enjoyed his time with Kennedys capturing their visits to East Africa. He spent weeks with Bobby Kennedy Jnr. shooting a documentary on wildlife conservation that the young Kennedy still remembers.

Emperor Haile Selassie with President Kennedy (1963) by Mohamed AminMohamed Amin Foundation

"John F. Kennedy' was always my favourite person, my favourite leader, in my early years and I have had immense admiration for him. I’m just very fond of reading books about him and I have read just about every book that I can lay my hands on."
Mo Amin

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Mo Amin: Eye of Africa
The photojournalist who moved the world
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