The document discusses a new wine venture called Giraffrican Mix that aims to raise money for a university in Kenya. Daphne Keute founded Giraffrican Mix to sell a blend of red and white wines, with 5% of proceeds going to build Regina Pacis University led by the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi. The university will provide education, especially for women, to help break the cycle of poverty in Africa. Christopher Wilson's wine shop will distribute the Giraffrican Mix wines, with the goal of raising $300,000 by late 2009 to construct the university's first building.

1. “I will do everything in my power to build on and enrich the
strong relationship between [the] United States and the Holy See.”
Mary Ann Glendon, the new U.S. ambassador
to the Vatican who arrived in Rome Feb. 15
Overheard
Quotes from this week’s newsmakers
20 FEBRUARY 21, 2008
Wine venture seeks to aid African women “Being a Catholic school, we
gathered in prayer and
explained to the students what
happened because there was
a lot of trauma around the
building.”
— Nancy Ronhovde, principal of
Guardian Angels Catholic School in
Chaska, where a large radiator fell
from the ceiling Feb. 14, breaking
the leg of a kindergarten student
“The acts of
vandalism at
the cemetery
statues seem to
be motivated
by something
deeper than
just ‘pranks.’ It
seems to
manifest hostility,
perhaps even a satanical
attitude, toward our Catholic
religion.”
— Bishop Bernard Harrington of
Winona, writing in the February
edition of his diocesan newspaper
about recent vandalism at a
Rochester cemetery
“The purpose of this religious
community is to flood the world
with holy habits as signs to God.”
— Rosalind Moss, an author who is an
Eternal Word Television Network TV
host and one of the network’s radio
hosts, announcing Feb. 13 that she
is starting a new community of
sisters in the Archdiocese of St. Louis
“As prime
minister of
Australia, I am
sorry. On behalf
of the
government of
Australia, I am
sorry. On behalf
of the
Parliament, I am
sorry. I offer this apology without
qualification.”
— Australian Prime Minister Kevin
Rudd who apologized to the
nation’s Aboriginal people for more
than 70 years of government
assimilation policies that separated
Aboriginal children from their
families and sent them to church-
run missions
“It now seems the fairest and
most pastoral resolution.”
— Bishop Donald Kettler of Fairbanks,
Alaska, announcing that the
diocese would file for bankruptcy
as a response to more than 140
people filing about 150 sexual
abuse claims against the diocese
BISHOP HARRINGTON
RUDD
Drinking a glass of wine each day is
good for your health, some doctors say.
Now, thanks to the efforts of Daphne
Keute of Woodbury, drinking a glass of
wine can help improve life for Africa’s
poor.
Keute is the founder of Giraffrican
Mix, which is launching a wine series
under the same name to help the
Assumption Sisters of Nairobi, Kenya, to
build a university that will include a
special track for
women.
Keute is teaming
with Christopher
Wilson, owner of
WineStyles in Woodbury to sell the wine
— a combination of six reds and whites
that will retail for under $20 a bottle.
WineStyles will donate 5 percent from
Giraffrican Mix sales to the school
project; Giraffrican Mix also will donate
5 percent of its proceeds.
By late 2009, Keute said she hopes the
venture will raise about $300,000,
enough to construct the school building.
“Education is very important — it’s a
key solution to breaking the cycle of
poverty, especially for women,” she said.
“If they can be educated, contribute
back to their communities and earn a
living for their families, it will be a
much better picture for Africa.”
Helping out
The idea began after Keute met
Kenyan Sister Muendi Munyao when
Father Vincent Bromley invited her last
year to western Wisconsin to deliver
missionary appeals on behalf of her
order at Sacred Heart in Radisson and St.
Peter in Winter, near where Keute and
husband Garry have a weekend home.
“I wondered, ‘What can we do to
help?’” said Keute, who has a
background in sales and marketing.
The original idea was to market a
special blend of trail mix that could help
feed malnourished children in Africa,
but the project stalled once Keute
learned about the complexities of
shipping food overseas. That’s when the
wine idea bubbled to the surface.
Sister Muendi said her community of
176 sisters has about 100 acres of land
on which to build Regina Pacis
University, and the school’s first priority
will be to train nurses because there’s a
great need for them in Kenya.
The Assumption Sisters of Nairobi
minister throughout the country as
nurses, teachers and social workers.
Members have been devoting much of
their time recently to assisting those
“who are suffering in one way or
another” because of the violence that
erupted after the country’s disputed
presidential election, Sister Muendi said.
The wine for the Giraffrican Mix label
comes from the Clos La Chance winery
in San Martin, Calif. Wilson of
WineStyles said he became involved in
the venture because social responsibility
is important to him as a business owner.
In addition to Giraffrican Mix, Wilson
also sells wines that benefit Habitat for
Humanity, the University of Minnesota
scholarship fund and Share Our
Strength, a national anti-hunger
organization.
Pre-orders for Giraffrican Mix are
currently being taken by WineStyles of
Woodbury (WWW.WINESTYLESWOODBURY
.COM; (651) 730-0112) and will be
available for pickup on May 31. On that
day, the store will also be hosting a
tasting that will include Giraffrican Mix
wines.
In addition, see the WineStyles Web
site for several public benefit dinners
and tastings in April and May featuring
the label. Organizations that would like
to set up a wine tasting event featuring
Giraffrican Wines should call Keute at
(651) 592-1016. Progress on Regina Pacis
University will be available at
WWW.GIRAFFRICANMIX.COM beginning in
early April.
Contributions can also be made
directly to: Assumption Sisters of
Nairobi-Regina Pacis University, c/o
Sister Muendi Munyao, Sisters of St.
Joseph of Carondelet, St. Paul Province,
1884 Randolph Ave., St. Paul, MN
55105.
Quick hits
■ A Mass of thanksgiving is set for 11
a.m., Sunday, Feb. 24, at St. Patrick in
Edina to commemorate the 50th
ordination anniversary of Father
Ambrose Mahon. A reception following
the Mass will be held in the church’s
Mahon Center.
Father Mahon’s first assignment was
as associate pastor of
Our Lady of Grace
in Edina. In 1965, he
was reassigned to
Nativity of Our Lord
in St. Paul.
Beginning in 1970
he served as
administrator of
St. Patrick until his
appointment as
pastor in 1976. He
retired in 1998.
■ All Saints Catholic School in
Lakeville recently recorded its first
professional CD, which includes choral
and handbell selections. It will be sold as
a fundraising effort to purchase
instruments.
The CD cover features the artwork of
eighth-grader Erin Bellefeuille. For more
information, contact the school at (952)
469-3332.
Joe Towalski is editor of The Catholic
Spirit.
Joe’s Jots
Joe Towalski
Dianne Towalski / The Catholic Spirit
Christopher Wilson, left, and Daphne Keute, right, meet with Assumption Sister of Nairobi
Muendi Munyao at WineStyles in Woodbury Feb. 14. The three have teamed together to
sell Giraffrican Mix wine to raise money to build a school in Kenya.
FATHER MAHON