The different perceptions of the Obama´s - Mark Obama Ndesandjo

Mark Obama Ndesandjo

Shenzhen-based Mark Obama Ndesandjo, half-brother of US president Barack Obama, discusses in his book An Obama's Journey: My Odyssey of Self-Discovery across Three Cultures their different perspectives of the Obama´s, his family and the relation with this half-brother. "Follow your own path is most important," he tells in BroadSide.

Mark Obama Ndesandjo is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

  

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Mark Obama Ndesandjo discusses Kenya, the US, China and his family

Mark Obama Ndesandjo

Shenzhen-based Mark Obama Ndesandjo, half-brother of Barack Obama, talks at Nanfang TV about this experiences in Kenya, the US and China, and his meetings with this half-brother. Mark recently published his book An Obama's Journey: My Odyssey of Self-Discovery across Three Cultures.

Mark Obama Ndesandjo is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form

Are you a media representative, and do you want to talk to one of our speakers? Do drop us a line.

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Awarded for charity work - Mark Obama Ndesandjo

Mark Obama Ndesandjo

Mark Obama Ndesandjo, was awarded for ten years of work as a volunteer in a Shenzhen orphanage, as one of two foreigners among 21 people, reports the Shenzhen Daily. 

The Shenzhen Daily:

 MARK OKOTH OBAMA NDESANDJO, half-brother of U.S. President Barack Obama, was recognized at the 20th anniversary of the Shenzhen Social Welfare Center on Friday, for teaching orphans at the center to play the piano over the past 10 years. 

Ndesandjo is among 21 individuals who were recognized at the anniversary for helping orphans at the center. American K. Tamra was the only other expatriate to receive the recognition. 

Ndesandjo has made his name in China with extensive charity work across the country. Ndesandjo donated many musical instruments to the local orphanage and has given piano lessons to orphans nearly every Wednesday for the past 10 years, said Tang Rongsheng, director of the Shenzhen Social Welfare Center. 

Ndesandjo came to Shenzhen 10 years ago and married a woman from Henan Province in 2008. One of Ndesandjo’s students is Bao Luhua, who suffers from a cleft palate and impaired hearing. Ndesandjo taught Bao for seven years, until the now-21-year-old man started a career in a private company, Tang said. 

Ndesandjo avoided media Friday and was reluctant to talk about himself, only saying that he hoped more volunteers would come and help orphans. Ndesandjo is now running a Shenzhen-based consulting firm that helps American companies invest in China and Chinese companies invest in the United States and Kenya.

More in the Shenzhen Daily.

Mark Obama Ndesandjo is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

On Thursday November 8 the China Weekly Hangout (10pm Beijing Time, 3pm CET, 10am EST) will focus on the future of nuclear power in China, what are the risks after Fukushima, and might a successful NIMBY protest be possible? Here you can register at our events page. Or see the announcement here.

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'Nairobi to Shenzhen' hits China market - Mark Obama Ndesandjo

Mark Obama Ndesandjo, the half brother of US president Obama, was in Shanghai this week to sign copies of the Chinese edition of his autobiographical novel 'Nairobi To Shenzhen: A Novel of Love in the East', writes the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

The half-brother of U.S. President Barack Obama attended a book fair in Shanghai Wednesday to promote his semi-autobiographical novel "Nairobi to Shenzhen" and to autograph its Chinese edition for the readers. Mark Obama Ndesandjo's novel, written in diary form, is based on his own experiences: born in Kenya, working in the United States and moving to Asia after his American dream was smashed by 9/11.

Ndesandjo moved to Shenzhen, a boomtown in south China's Guangdong Province just across the border from Hong Kong, in 2001. He has taught English and been heavily involved in charity work, including giving free piano lessons to orphans.

The Chinese edition of his "Nairobi to Shenzhen" features photos of his life in China: spending time with orphans, discussing traditional culture with ethnic Naxi people in Lijiang, a scenic town in the southwestern Yunnan Province, and practising Chinese calligraphy at home. Ndesandjo said he loves China and its traditional culture.

He has passed advanced Chinese tests and published three
Cover via Amazonalbums of his piano performances.

More at Xinhua and the Washington Post. Mark Obama Ndesandjo is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

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Shenzhen Attitude - Mark Obama Ndesandjo

Mark Obama Ndesandjo

by Mark Obama Ndesandjo

During a recent discussion with some children, I suggested a game. I proposed giving each of the 26 letters in the English alphabet a number: A is 1, B is 2, C is 3 and so forth. “Find me a word whose letters add up to 100,” I asked. “It has to do with dreams and success.”

While the children were thinking, I reflected on the power of dreams. Dreams are about the future and our individual potential to carve our own path. It was a dream that brought me to China eight years ago, a dream that I would start a new life, based on learning the language and making a difference.

The city I chose to live in was Shenzhen. To many it is a boom town, sprawling, uncultured and ugly. To me, it is young, dynamic, conveniently situated next to Hong Kong, and full of people from all over China — all seeking their dreams.

Although “Shenzhen speed,” like “time is money,” are catchphrases that help characterize this 30-year old city, I prefer to think of another Shenzhen, a place that is part of the future of China but also has its feet rooted in tradition.

The traditional Shenzhen is still here: All you have to do is look behind the glimmering new skyscrapers and fancy shopping malls. At the gas station on Lian Hua Road, next to the near-bankrupt massage parlor whose gray, neon-lit walls always seem on the verge of collapsing, and where the new subway station has turned the area topsy turvy, one discovers Jing-tian Road almost by accident.

At once there is a hush in the air, as though the street is singing a silent benediction. Tall, leafy mangroves line both sides of the road.

Walking up the gentle incline, I see families playing badminton in a small park to the right. On the left, I spot a woman sitting in her idling, brand new, white Honda, leaning out her window as she chats with a friend, but her mind really focused on showing off her beautiful car. On the right, I see the liu da , or slow walk, of grandparents as they meander behind their grandchildren. As I cross the intersection, branches from the trees dip down precariously so that the leaves feel like they may touch my head.

About five years ago, after a busy workday I returned to a street that just that morning had been lined with 30-year old cypress trees. Now, barely 8 hours later, it was a naked patch of concrete, punctured in regular intervals by large gaping holes where the trees had been torn out. I complained to a Chinese friend, who replied, “Don’t worry, it’s just development. It’s good for Shenzhen.”

I wonder: Does Jing-tian Road face that future? I hope not.

I believe that in the future China, the current Shenzhen disposition will become more relaxed, more traditional. “Time is money” will become “time is precious but can be shared with strangers.” Or, in the words of Confucius,

Don’t just treasure the water, treasure the mountain; don’t just move, but be still, don’t just enjoy, but preserve.

So perhaps by the time the kids of today’s Shenzhen grow up there will be a change in the current attitude toward headlong growth. Perhaps they will begin to ponder questions like: Do they have a wholesome life based on values such as establishing a quality-based economy and social responsibility, and not living just to pursue a quick yuan? Will they begin to stop to check out the blue skies, safely drink water direct from the tap, have more time to be with loved ones, volunteer, and walk where tree leaves gently touch?

The scene on Jing-tian Road mingles the ancient Chinese respect for the environment with a dancing, almost ebullient, sense of repose. It is rooted in the past, experienced today, and, I believe, will be part of that future, wholesome, life.

A pursuit of a dream brought me and millions of others here to Shenzhen. As we Shenzhenites continue to barrel into the future, we will remember our dreams, but also keep an eye on tradition.

As for the word that adds up to 100, take a guess.

Mark Obama Ndesandjo is the author of the novel “Nairobi to Shenzhen.” This article was adapted from his upcoming memoir. Earlier published in the New York Times; here republished with the kind permission of the author.)

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Mark Obama Ndesandno joins China Speakers Bureau

Mark Obama Ndesandjo 

The Shenzhen-based business man, artist and charity activist Mark Obama Ndesandjo has kindly agreed to join China Speakers Bureau. In a few years time, he has has helped to put corporate social responsibility on the local agenda and is helping companies to enter the challenging China market.

Two years ago, he wrote a semi-biographical novel, Nairobi to Shenzhen, focusing on how his character found his way into Shenzhen, after he lost his job after 9/11. The novel has earlier this year been published in Chinese and his memories are expected later this year He using his excellent bridge-building talents as a multicultural, talent, who had his home in Keynia, the US and how China.

Are you interested in having him on your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.