DIRECTOR OF MILLENNIUM PROMISE PETE ONDENG TO VISIT HOUGHTON

HOUGHTON, N.Y. —East and Southern Africa Director of Millennium Promise Pete Ondeng visits Houghton College as guest lecturer on April 17-April 18.

On Tuesday, April 17 Ondeng will speak on the topic of “The Ethics of Microcredit” at 7 p.m. in the Chamberlain Center room 123. On April 18 he will speak on “After the MDGs: What?” at 11 a.m. in Wesley Chapel.

As director of the Millennium Promise, Ondeng oversees the development and operations of 42 Millennium Villages in Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi. Millennium Villages take a comprehensive approach to addressing extreme poverty in rural Africa. By combining the best scientific and local knowledge, the Villages tackle all the major problems simultaneously. These include hunger, disease, inadequate education, lack of safe drinking water, and the absence of essential infrastructure.

Between 2003 and 2005 Ondeng was the CEO of the Eastern Africa Secretariat of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), a pan-African economic development program of the African Union. Prior to his involvement with NEPAD, Ondeng served as the Africa Director for Oikocredit, an international finance intermediary that provides long-term loans for economic development programs and projects in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Ondeng is known throughout Kenya as a motivational speaker, trainer, writer, and the host of the weekly prime time television program called “Money Matters.” He is the author of “Africa’s Moment” and “How to Start Your Own Small Business.”

Both lectures are free and open to the public. For more information call 585.567.9200.

These lectures are sponsored by the Hoselton Chair of Private Enterprise and Ethics, Dean of the Chapel and the Intercultural Studies Department.