“We’re not at all going over to save Kitui. It’s really to see them as our brothers and sisters, and the only way you can do that is build real relationships with them. We are one Catholic family.” Mike Haasl
Local The Catholic Spirit
News from around the archdiocese
JUNE 23, 2011
3A
Minnesota students, teachers to visit schools in Kenya By Julie Carroll The Catholic Spirit
Bishop Lee Piché, two St. Thomas Academy students and representatives from several Catholic schools and parishes are preparing to visit the Diocese of Kitui, Kenya, June 27 to July 12. This will be the third trip archdiocesan representatives have made to Kitui since the two dioceses began a partnership in 2004. The relationship between the two dioceses began with an invitation from Catholic Relief Services to participate in its Global Solidarity Partnership program, which connects U.S. dioceses with African dioceses. In 2004, Archbishop Boniface Lele, then bishop of Kitui, traveled to Minnesota. Since then, two other delegations from Kitui have visited Minnesota. Now four archdiocesan schools, including St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, have formed their own partnerships with schools in Kenya. Other participating schools are St. Pius X in White Bear Lake, St. Joseph in Rosemount and St. Mark in St. Paul.
Making connections During the upcoming visit, representatives of three archdiocesan schools will spend time at their partner schools and visit with the Kenyan students and their families. St. Thomas Academy student Matthew Goldammer said he was “thrilled” to receive an invitation to join the delegation. The school gave him and his classmate, Thomas Sjoberg, $2,000 grants to cover a majority of the trip’s expense. “It’s always been a dream of mine to go there,” Goldammer said. “To see how they live and the culture is going to be an amazing experience, and also the Catholic aspect, to understand how we are all connected.” When the students return to Minnesota, they will prepare a presentation for their school and possibly other schools in the archdiocese, Goldammer said. Father Thomas O’Brien, director of Catholic Mission and Identity at St. Thomas Academy, will accompany the students to Kenya. “We have all sorts of dreams” for the partnership,
Correction On page 6A in the June 9 issue, under “One baby at a time,” Joyce Nevins’ email should be JOYCEENEVINS @EARTHLINK.NET.
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Photo courtesy of Eric Simon
Bishop Anthony Muheria of Kitui, Kenya, speaks to Father Thomas O’Brien’s class at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights in February 2010. St. Thomas Academy has formed a partnership with St. Joseph Minor Seminary in Mwingi, Kenya.
Father O’Brien said. “Everything from Skyping classes to reading programs where our students would read books
Kitui trip blog The St. Thomas Academy students and other members of the Minnesota delegation traveling to Kitui, Kenya, will be blogging about their experiences on the Center for Mission website, WWW.CENTER FORMISSION.ORG. Look for a link to the blog under the heading “What’s New.”
written by African authors and the students at St. Joseph’s would read books by American authors, and then we would participate in discussions about the various things we’ve read. “We’re also talking with our biology classes about working on common water projects,” he added. Father O’Brien said he will work with Goldammer, Sjoberg and other students involved in campus ministry to further develop the relationship between the two schools. PLEASE TURN TO CATHOLIC ON PAGE 8A
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