Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, who had the same, late, father as the U.S. president, was also given a "five-star volunteer" award in a ceremony in Shenzhen on Friday, the official Guangzhou Daily said.
The newspaper added that Ndesandjo held a concert earlier this year to raise money for victims of last year's massive earthquake in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan.
Ndesandjo has kept a low public profile since reports surfaced last year that he was living and working in the southern Chinese manufacturing center of Shenzhen, around an hour's train ride from Hong Kong. He made a rare public appearance earlier in November in the nearby city of Guangzhou to launch a novel he said drew on his painful childhood under an abusive father.
He briefly met the U.S. president in November during Obama's visit to China.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BB0NG20091212?type=politicsNews
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November 19, 2009:
" ... The President took time on the trip to meet his younger half-brother, who lives in China where he works as a piano teacher and runs a business in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen.
Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo seemed overwhelmed by the meeting. He said: “My big brother, you know I think he was on his way to see the President of China. He came directly off the plane, changed some clothes and then came down and saw us. He just gave me a big hug. It was so intense. I’m over the moon. My wife, I think she is still recovering.”
The younger man, who shares the same father with the US President, bought his tickets to fly to Beijing months ago, hoping to reconnect with his brother. The two last met in January when Mr Ndesandjo attended the President’s inauguration as a family guest.
He said that they had a long chat and he took the occasion to introduce Mr Obama to his wife, whom he married a year ago and who is a native of central Henan province ... "
Mr Ndesandjo, who emerged into the spotlight a few weeks ago to promote a novel he has written that draws on his own painful childhood with his abusive father, has lived in China for seven years.
Speaking to CNN, President Obama said that he didn’t know his half-brother very well but he did not feel Mr Ndesandjo was betraying private family details in his book. “It’s no secret that my father was a troubled person,” he said.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6921888.ece
