PASSPORT TO AFRICA: TRANSFORMING AFRICA THROUGH EDUCATION

Ashesi is hosting its first-annual benefit luncheon to help support scholarships for women and rural students. Featured speakers include Mike Murray, Ashesi Founder Patrick Awuah, and Yawa Osebreh, a student from Ashesi's campus in Ghana.

The goal of this benefit luncheon is to raise $100,000 to make high quality education available to 20 female or poor students who would not otherwise be able to attend Ashesi University. Currently over 60% of female students receive financial aid, and 20% of the student body is from rural or difficult circumstances that require substantial scholarships to attend. To view the invitation click here.

When:	Friday, October 22, 2004 from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM (Program begins at noon)
Where:	Washington Athletic Club Olympic Ballroom 1325 Sixth Ave Seattle, WA 98101
Admissions:	Free of Charge; Guests will be asked to make a contribution to the Ashesi University Scholarship Fund. Suggested donation $250.
RSVP:	To RSVP please call (206) 545-6988 or Click here to register online
Questions:	Call Matthew Taggart at Ashesi University Foundation: 206-545-6988; foundation@ashesi.org

ENGAGING AFRICA: CROSSING THE CULTURAL DIVIDE THROUGH FILM

Ashesi University Foundation and the Seattle Art Museum are co-sponsoring the first public viewing of the film "Togbe" in the Seattle area. This documentary film covers the story of a middle aged Dutchman given a position of leadership in the Mepe traditional area in Ghana, West Africa. Henk Otte lives on disability outside of Amsterdam with his wife, who is Ghanaian, and his son. "Togbe" follows Otte from Holland to Ghana where he celebrates his fifth anniversary as a leader of Mepe, a region of 300,000 people. The films release in 2003 was met with both praise and controversy. A brief discussion will take place following the film and a reception with light refreshments will conclude the evening. Please Join Us!

When:	Thursday, October 7, 2004 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM (Seating will begin at 6:45PM)
Where:	Museum Lecture Hall Seattle Art Museum 100 University Street Seattle, WA 98101
Admissions:	Free of charge; 100 seats available, first-come first-serve
Questions:	Call Matthew Taggart at Ashesi University Foundation: 206-545-6988; foundation@ashesi.org

CONVERSATIONS ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA

Ashesi University and New York University in Ghana are co-sponsoring a series of evening conversations discussing Economic Development in Ghana. The speaker series will occur over four nights and include topics on the history of economic development in Ghana, foreign aid, private sector involvement, and the role of Breton-Woods institutions in Ghana's development. Each evening will feature one or more keynote speakers, and will leave plenty of time for a discussion with the audience. Speakers will include university professors, World Bank officials, commercial bank officials, investment bankers, and Ghanaian entrepreneurs. The series will be moderated by New York University Professor of Economics, Yaw Nyarko. Please take a look at the complete schedule below for more detailed event descriptions. Light refreshments will be served at each discussion.

PART 1:	IS FOREIGN AID GOOD FOR AFRICA?
Speaker:	William Easterly, New York University Dept of Economics
Description:	The West advertises foreign aid as a benevolent act by Western governments and international organizations. But has foreign aid really benefited Africans? Have the Western aid agencies delivered the aid in a bureaucratically competent manner -- or are they incompetent? Should Africans accept the conditions that the aid agencies force upon them? Is foreign aid really worth the energy that has to be diverted to the donors by African policy makers? Is foreign aid consistent with the ideals of freedom and independence for Africans?
When:	Thursday, September 30, 2004 from 6:00 - 7:30 PM

Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr., Chair of African and African American Studies and Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Studies at Harvard University, will speak on June 23rd about the genesis and significance of the Encyclopedia Africana project, and comment on the nature and impact of links between Africa and the African-American community. Prof. Gates will be joined by Patrick Awuah, Jr., Founder and President of Ashesi University - the first private, secular university in Ghana, West Africa. Mr. Awuah will share his thoughts about the specific role higher education can play in Africa's future development.

Among Time magazine's 25 most influential Americans in 1998 and Newsweek's 100 Americans to watch for in the next century, Henry Louis Gates Jr. has been described as one of the most notable scholars of African-American and multi-cultural studies in the country. Dr. Gates is responsible for the groundbreaking Encarta Africana, a multimedia encyclopedia that traces the African Diaspora and documents the history and culture of Africa and the people who descend from this continent from 4 million BCE to the present. Dr. Gates graduated from Yale in 1973 and later became the first African American to earn a doctorate degree at Cambridge University. Click here for more information about this event.

When:	Wednesday, June 23, 2004 from 7:00 to 8:30
Where:	Nesholm Family Lecture Hall (McCaw Hall), Seattle Center Entrance on Mercer St., between 3rd Ave N and 4th Ave N
Tickets:	$15 general admission $10 for World Affairs Council members
RSVP:	Please select the following link to register online and guarantee a seat for this event.  Walk-ins are also welcome.
Questions:	Call Matthew Taggart at Ashesi University Foundation: 206-545-6988; foundation@ashesi.org

DEAN TOM CAMPBELL TO SPEAK ABOUT TEACHING ASHESI STUDENTS IN GHANA
Thursday, January 15, 2004 from 12:00pm to 1:30 pm

Tom Campbell, Dean of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, will be making a brief trip to Seattle on January 15th and has agreed to join us for lunch to speak about his experience teaching at Ashesi University in Ghana. As a public servant, educator, economist, lawyer, politician, and recent Ashesi visiting lecturer, Dean Campbell has a broadened perspective of the challenges of promoting socio-economic progress in a developing country. Come hear him share what two-weeks in an Ashesi classroom taught him about "the good society," and nation-building as seen through the eyes of the next generation of African leaders.

 

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