Schools

Team Mutomo: Visitation 5K Benefits Kenyan Hospital

The school will host a 5K to benefit a Kenyan hospital on Saturday.

For a group of students and staff at , a trip to Kenya this summer starts with a 5K walk this Saturday.

A group of students and chaperones from the will travel to Mutomo, Kenya this June as part of Team Mutomo, an organization dedicated to supporting the Sisters of Mercy and their work operating Mutomo Hospital.

Team Mutomo aids the sisters by providing clerical, medical and physical assistance to patients at the hospital and surrounding mobile clinics.

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The group is sponsoring a to raise money for the Mutomo Hospital. The event will begin at Visitation. On-site registration is $25 per person, and includes a T-shirt and snacks.

“This year’s trip will work to sustain and deepen the hope in Mutomo,” said Philip Goldman, who is the Team Mutomo coordinator and lead chaperone, as well as a member of the Visitation Board of Trustees.

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Six chaperones and 10 students will accompany Goldman on the trip. The participating students have researched Kenya and HIV/AIDS and have spearheaded the trip’s fundraising efforts.

Among the students involved are Mendota Heights residents Amanda Scheid, Anna Walsh, Elsa Ayotte and Rachel Gould.

This trip holds particular significance for Scheid, a Visitation senior who traveled to Mutomo with the program last year and now dreams of becoming a doctor in Kenya.

“I was incredibly inspired last year, and I want to make sure that this is really what I want for my life,” said Scheid.

In Kenya, 10 million people live below the poverty line. Mutomo, in particular, faces drought, poverty and disease, including HIV/AIDs.

“I hope to learn how to not take everything I have for granted,” said Walsh, a junior at Visitation. “I hope this trip really shows me how important life is and exactly what about it matters most.”

To donate to Team Mutomo, send contributions to "Team Mutomo" at Visitation School, 2455 Visitation Drive, Mendota Heights MN 55120, or make an electronic donation at www.visitation.net.


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