Yomi Durotoye to speak Feb. 15 on foreign aid to Africa, self-help

Yomi Durotoye will present “Doing Good in Africa: Lessons from Traditional Agencies of Self-help in the Continent” as part of Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College World Issues Forum at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 15, in the Fairhaven College Auditorium on the Western campus.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

The constructed image of Africa as a luckless and helpless continent forever in need of foreign aid unjustly ignores the strong tradition of self-help and self-reliance that is found across African societies. Drawing from specific cases from his home community, Okemesi, in the Yorubaland region of Nigeria, Durotoye will describe the processes, practices and enabling values of traditional agencies of self-help and explore how these can be adapted to foreign aid to make the effort more effective, respectful and enduring.

Durotoye is the director of the African Studies program at Wake Forest University.

For more information on the World Issues Forum speaker series presented by Western’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, call Shirley Osterhaus at (360) 650-2309 or visit the World Issues Forum Website at http://www.wwu.edu/depts/fairhaven.

WWU's Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, established in 1967, is nationally recognized for innovation in teaching and learning, intensive advising, student-designed majors, narrative assessment, experiential and independent learning and a commitment to social justice.