The heat is on at our boarding campus, and the students couldn’t be any happier.

Thanks to a $52,000 grant from the Australian High Commission’s Direct Aid Program (DAP) and some additional help from our friends at Freudenberg Group, students are now enjoying environmentally-friendly hot showers at Moivaro campus.

Our campuses are situated in a high altitude area of Tanzania where the weather can get chilly, especially in the winter months. So not only is hot water a pleasure that most of our students rarely experience at home, it’s also vital to stop the common colds and illnesses that pester them during those colder months.

Good news: Everyone at Moivaro boarding is happy to now have environmentally-friendly hot showers.

“It’s so good, now we look forward to showers when it is cold,” boarding student Noreen said, adding that she and most of her friends came from homes without running water and would often shower using a bucket.

We’re proud to now have this green, renewable heating system while reducing our carbon dioxide emissions.

“Solar water heaters were the best way for us to make sure our students were happy and healthy during the colder times of the year,” school founder Gemma said.

“Hot water is not so easy to come by here, so we consider ourselves very fortunate to receive this generous grant.”

Last year, St Jude’s launched an appeal to raise funds for solar water heaters to be installed for the 1,400 younger students boarding at our Moivaro Campus.

Healthy and happy: Staying cold and flu-free is even easier now, thanks to Australian High Commission’s Direct Aid Program (DAP) and our friends at Freudenberg Group.

St Jude’s received the DAP grant and a donation from the Freudenberg Team in Germany, which allowed us to complete the project in January. Local labourers installed the heaters, and our skilled maintenance team will be in on standby to keep them functioning at optimal capacity.

Rotary Club of Brisbane High-Rise also heard the call for environmentally-friendly water heaters and organised a sold out fundraising dinner, to be held in Australia this month. Their aim is to raise enough to supply 30 solar water heaters to our Usa River secondary boarding campus, and their goal is within reach!

Solar power: Students at Smith campus can soon look forward to everyone having hot water, thanks to the Rotary Club of Brisbane High-Rise.

Want to help fund solar water heaters, malaria-fighting mosquito nets or homework-helping desks to our students in boarding? Make a donation to Boarding and Transport today.