Two Kenyan Penn State alumni told a room full of students and community members Friday night that they would have to take the lead to help solve Africa's poverty problems.

"Are African leaders looking out for Africa? So far, no," Reuben Marwanga, a member of the Class of 1998, said.

About 50 people gathered at Berg Auditorium for the African Student Association's "First Annual Dialogue About Solutions Regarding Poverty on the African Continent."

Marwanga and his wife, Florence Nyangara, a member of the Class of 2000, led the discussion.

"We have been looking for a way that we could at least talk to the young generation," Nyangara said.

She told the group that many people in Sub-Saharan Africa live on less than $1 a day.

"We just go to the Creamery and spend $2 and that's no big deal," she said. "A dollar is a big deal to the children."

Marwanga said many of Africa's problems stem from ineffective leadership, which prompted him to run in the 2007 election for parliament in Kenya.

"I'm sick and tired of us talking and doing nothing about it," he said.

He said Africans also have to change their mindset to improve their situation.

"If you believe you are poor, you always remain poor because that's your state of mind," he said. "That's what needs to change."

Marwanga said African leaders were squandering the aid provided by foreign governments.

"I think I may have caused a lot of controversy," Marwanga said after the discussion, "but I think it went very well."

Moses Bility (graduate-integrative bioscience) said he agreed with Marwanga's basic premise, but that the situation was more complex than the way it was being framed during the discussion.

"I like his point of view," Bility said. "We don't have leaders that people can trust."

Rachel Helwig, program coordinator for international student services, said one way Americans can help is by becoming more aware as consumers, knowing where the products they buy are coming from and under what conditions they're being made.

Ephraim Govere, research support associate in crop and soil sciences, said he felt struggling African countries need democracy first and foremost.

"The reason I like [President George W.] Bush is because he's really putting democracy out front," he said. "Without a democratic system, nothing will change."

Michael Adewumi, director of the Alliance for Earth Sciences, Engineering and Development in Africa, said that students at Penn State should be using their education to help others.

"They're getting the best education in the world," he said. "It's not about how much money they're making for themselves."

Sylvain Didier Kouame, president of the African Student Association, said the solution to the problem should come from African students.

"We forget about where we come from," he said. "Getting people to realize that there is a problem should be the key."

Ngonidzashe Mpofu (freshman-premedicine) said the discussion was enlightening and agreed students have to take action.

"I thought they brought up some really valid points," she said. "We need to take the initiative."