Event Benefits Ugandan Mothers, Children

Westmont hosts a 5K run/walk to benefit Save the Mothers, an organization working to improve the lives of women in Uganda, on Saturday, May 16, at 9 a.m. Registration, which costs $15 for students; $25 for adults (free kids fun run), begins at the Westmont track at 8:30 a.m. Registration is also available online at walkformothersday.com. The event is co-sponsored by the Westmont Activities Council, Westmont Track and Field, and the Westmont Office of Global Education.

Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia accounted for 85 percent of the 287,000 maternal deaths in 2010. In Uganda alone, there were 4,700 maternal deaths that year. “Save the Mothers equips professionals from a wide array of disciplines in developing countries to improve the health of mothers and babies,” says Cynthia Toms, Westmont director of global education. “Through their specific vocations, graduates of their Master in Public Health Leadership program become influencers for positive societal change, working to overcome preventable maternal death.”

Westmont students have been involved with Save the Mothers, including senior kinesiology major Alex Fisher, who interned with the organization last semester on the campus of Uganda Christian University.

For more information, please contact Cynthia Toms at ctoms@westmont.edu.