About 800 Attend Event at K-School On African Issues

More than 800 students attended a conference on African issues at the Kennedy School of Government this weekend, an organizer said.

"The impetus behind the conference was to address very serious social issues in Africa," said Obai Taylor-Kamara, the graduate student president of the Harvard African Student Association and the conference organizer.

Participants in the conference discussed health, the role of women, famine, religion and technology on the continent. The conference also stopped for a moment of silence to remember those slain in Rwanda, where thousands died in fighting this weekend.

"It's just one of the symptoms of the larger problem in Africa," Taylor-Kamara said of Rwanda.