Growing up in a poverty-stricken area of Arusha, Daniel dreamed about one day going a top international university and using his education to help his community.

Thanks to St Jude’s – he has that opportunity.

Daniel has been selected into the African Leadership Academy (ALA), where he will complete the two-year pre-university program alongside some of the top scholars on the continent.

“I’ve always dreamed of going to Harvard, now it’s possible,” Daniel said.

“Without The School of St Jude this wouldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t be ready for this opportunity without the education I have received.”

He follows in the footsteps of former St Jude’s student Liston, who was granted an ALA scholarship last year and recently returned to guide his former classmates through a weekend workshop.

Their achievements prove St Jude’s is succeeding in its mission to break the cycle of poverty by providing a free, high-quality education to Arusha’s brightest and poorest students.

“My parents don’t have much money so they would have never been able to afford to send me to a school like St Jude’s,” Daniel said.

“I would have gone to a government school and it would have been very hard to pass Form 4.”

Schools in Tanzania are under-resourced and most students face an uphill battle graduating from high school.

Of the 1.63 million Tanzanians that started school in 2002, fewer than 39,000 graduated from Form 6 this year. That is just 2.4%.

“At St Jude’s you are given a better opportunity,” Daniel said.

“You are given everything you need; food, quality teachers, plenty of books and resources.”

Daniel has become a shining example of the values St Jude’s teaches. He started a microfinancing program which helped 30 women in his local village and became a key part of his ALA application.

“It helped them raise money to get their kids through school and pay for their homes,” he said.

“We structured it in such a way to help everyone involved, not just one person.”

Daniel hopes to do similar projects when he returns to Tanzania after completing his schooling.

“When I finish I will come back to Tanzania,” he said.

“Where else can I go? This is my home. People look up to me. In my village people are looking up to me. They know I have a very great opportunity to help my village.”

Support a future leader of Tanzania. Sponsor a student like Daniel.

Less than a quarter of the secondary school-age female population in Tanzania attend school.

The School of St Jude is proving this can change.

International women’s empowerment facilitator, Ginette Collin, was blown away when she held a fortnight of after-school classes with our female secondary students.

“The St Jude girls were much more confident than I expected,” said Ginette, founder of the Malaysian-based non-profit PurpleLily project.

“When I asked a question everybody would raise their hands – they were really willing to participate in any activities and discussion. It was great.”

PurpleLily focuses on women and girls from low social economic backgrounds who are considered disadvantaged – an important area to improve in Tanzania, as UNICEF’s latest figures show only 24.4% of females attend secondary school in the country.

St Jude's has more than 50% female students, who are regularly proving they can achieve anything if they are given the opportunity.

A-Level student Omega was one of 70 who took part in the PurpleLily program, which featured classes on Goal Setting, Building Confidence, Communication and Positive Thinking.

“(It) was really helpful. It makes us confident and positive about ourselves, and helps us to be passionate and motivated to achieve our goals,” she said.

The PurpleLily program has proved to be the ideal partnership, with our own Purple Lily club now established and committee members currently being voting in.

It is hoped younger students will therefore also benefit from the program, particularly as the positives of giving women a good education are proven. Not only does it help break the cycle of poverty, educated women are less likely to die in childbirth or marry early and against their will, and are more likely to have healthy children that they send to school.

Ginette said the Positive Thinking and Building Confidence classes were particularly popular, and the students learnt a number of useful tools, like using a mantra or affirmation to build confidence.

“The PurpleLily workshops have helped me improve my confidence. I have learned about body language and how to maintain a positive mind. Some of the tools like the Mantra really help me to feel good about myself,” student Karen said.

Ginette was obviously thrilled the program had gone over so well.

“I just thought that (St Jude’s) was the perfect school to start with. It is so academically-focused, but also there’s also a really good culture there of working. I’m really happy I started with St Jude’s,” she said.

Ginette and her husband Brian sponsor a St Jude’s student and teacher, and Brian volunteered here during extended summer holidays in 2010 and 2011.

“We’ve been linked to St Jude’s for a long time, so I was happy to bring Purple Lily there for the first time in Tanzania,” she said.

We have been committed to equality since we opened in 2002. Find out more about our approach to fighting poverty through education.

To find out more about Purple Lily, go to: http://purplelily.org/