\nObama\u2019s half-brother Mark Ndesandjo \u2014 he is the son of Obama\u2019s late father and his third wife Ruth Nidesand \u2014 has lived in Shenzhen in southern China for over six years, and on Wednesday, sent his congratulations to Obama immediately after his historic election as the first African-American President of the US, according to Shenzhen Daily.
\nNdesandjo\u2019s business partner and friend Sui Zhengjun was quoted as saying that Ndesandjo has \u201cvery high hopes about Obama\u2019s concept of change\u201d, and was \u201cdelighted \u2014 not only as Obama\u2019s half-brother but as an American.\u201d
\nObama refers to Ndesandjo as \u201cmy brother\u201d but the two are believed to have had a strained relationship, which Obama records in his 1995 memoir, Dreams from My Father.
\nNdesandjo has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid public attention, particularly after he was \u2018outed\u2019 by the media in July.
\nHe is believed to have a long-time Chinese girlfriend, and his acquaintances describe him as being \u201cbig, strong and full of energy\u201d and \u201ca really easygoing guy\u201d who \u201cwears a hat over his shaven head\u201d.
\nNdesandjo, who gets his surname from his Kenyan mother, is associated with a Shenzhen-based company, Worldnexus Ltd, which provides corporate communications and website design services for Chinese firms seeking customers in English-speaking markets, principally the US.
\nDespite his reclusive nature, Ndesandjo has become something of a reluctant star in China, and a Chinese wine manufacturer even invited him to be its brand ambassador. But Ndesandjo is believed to have declined the offer; the Shenzen Daily quoted Sui as saying that Ndesandjo \u201cpreferred a quiet life.\u201d
\nEarlier Chinese media reports have noted that Ndesandjo, a self-taught musician, offers piano lessons at an orphanage in Shenzhen. A 2004 article claimed that Ndesandjo wished to \u201cbring the art of music to the orphans.\u201d
\nNdesandjo is known to have come to China in 2002 on a Sino-American culture exchange programme. As part of this programme, he worked in a Shenzhen foreign language school, and during that period, he established a non-profit organisation in China to help orphans.
\nAccording to Sui, before coming to China, Ndesandjo contacted several philanthropist agencies, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with a proposal, but had received no response. He then secured some donations from his MBA classmates in Emory and moved to China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"