Nairobi To Shenzhen

The protagonist, upon arriving in China in the wake of 911 and the onset of a terrifying global war, is forced to confront his early experiences in Kenya and the United States as a result of his growing love for a beautiful Chinese woman and a young orphan. Parallels between his own upbringing and the potential family that lies before him lead to questions about his true identity, the complexities of his multi-racial family and the relationship he had known with his father.

Mark Obama Ndesandjo is the author of the memoir Cultures: My Odyssey of Self-discovery, due to be released in 2014. It is a revealing and beautifully written memoir, in which Mark recounts his complex relationship with his older brother, President Barack Obama, including their first meeting in Kenya over twenty five years ago. The book also offers the author's inspiring personal story about identity and multiculturalism. Nairobi to Shenzhen is a semi-autobiographical novel that precedes Cultures, and is also a compelling story of adventure across three cultures. The protagonist, upon arriving in China in the wake of 911 and the onset of a terrifying global war, is forced to confront his early experiences in Kenya and the United States as a result of his growing love for a beautiful Chinese woman and a young orphan. Parallels between his own upbringing and the potential family that lies before him lead to questions about his true identity, the complexities of his multi-racial family and the relationship he had known with his father. ‘The mixed-race son of a brilliant but troubled Kenyan academic and a white American woman writes an emotionally wrenching book about his search for identity and self.” - Keith Richburg, The Washington Post “...contains 1.3 billion weighty thoughts, keen observations, flashes of insight and moments of reflection…and the readers can share in all of them.” - Cairns Media Magazine "I found this book hard to put down. From a haphazard collection of thoughts and impressions of southern China, the story begins to hone in on people, observing their behavior and relationships, across vastly different cultures...brutally honest, we are left with the image of a character striving to improve himself and the world through better self-awareness." - Fritz Galt, Author of China Gate

Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo is an accomplished pianist, writer, artist and businessman. He has a BSc. Physics from Brown University, an MSc Physics from Stanford and is an Emory EMBA graduate. Mark lives in Shenzhen, PRC and consults worldwide, using over 15 years of international marketing and branding experience gained as a senior manager at Lucent, Nortel and other companies. He is an HSK L7 (advanced) Mandarin speaker and writer, and an avid brush calligrapher. In addition to his first book, Nairobi to Shenzhen, Mark recently completed his Memoir, Cultures: My Odyssey of Self-discovery and has published 3 piano CDs: The Untimely Ones, Night Moods and his own composition Reflections on William Blake. His current projects include a translation of Tang Dynasty poems. Mark regularly volunteers piano lessons to orphans in and around Shenzhen, and in recognition of his charity work was appointed Volunteer Image Ambassador and Special Olympics Image Ambassador by China. Recently he established the Mark Obama Ndesandjo Foundation Ltd for cultural exchange, whose goal is to bring art to youth and the disadvantaged.