Joshua, a charming and charismatic Standard 2 student, comes out of class and joins Jalilath, Hilary, and Getruda, eager to share his aspirations in life.

“When I grow up I would like to be a pilot. I will buy my mother, father and my grandmother each a plane of their own.” Joshua says, almost bursting with ambition.

Joshua is one out of the 71% of Standard 1 and 2 students who are currently not fully sponsored, along with 42% of all newly enrolled secondary students.

Each of these students has a story that needs your support.

A New Chapter: Joshua is one of many new stories that can start with you.

Joshua is seven years old. He joined The School of St Jude in Standard 2 in 2021. His favourite subject is arithmetic and he enjoys playing tennis.

“I’m happy that I’ve joined St Jude’s. I can eat, play, and learn without worrying about anything,” says Joshua.

“The first thing I’ll do when I become a pilot is to build my parents a beautiful home so they can live a comfortable life,” he passionately adds.

90 Standard 1 and 2 students were enrolled last year after a rigorous selection process to ensure that only the poorest and brightest students in Arusha receive academic scholarships to St Jude’s.

The school provides academic scholarships for four key stages of student’s education; Primary academic scholarships to support a primary student’s education from Standard 1 to the end of Standard 7; O Level secondary academic scholarship to support a secondary student’s education from Form 1 to the end of Form 4; A Level secondary academic scholarship to support a secondary student’s education for their final two years of school in Form 5 and Form 6; and Beyond St Jude’s scholarship to cover phases of Form 4 and Form 6 graduates’ higher education.

A New Journey: Jalilath is ready to write her story of becoming a nurse. You can be part of her story.

Jalilath is seven years old. She is in Standard 1 and her favourite sport is cricket.

“I love being in Standard 1. St Jude's is a great school that teaches really well compared to my old school,” Jalilath says shyly.

“When I grow up I would like to be a nurse because I want to take care of the sick and those who can’t help themselves. I’ll be the first nurse in my family,” she adds.

Support a Story: With your support, Getruda’s story is changing.

Also aspiring to be a nurse is Getruda, who is in in Standard 2. She is six years old with big plans for her future.

“I love arithmetic, health care, writing and reading. I want to become a nurse because I’ll get to help people,’ Getruda explains.

Getruda is a bright student who has been winning academic awards since she joined St Jude's in 2021. Her awards include Best Performance in Midterm Exams, Best Handwriting Always and Finishing Work on Time.

At St Jude’s, we strive for academic and moral excellence and promote the development of well rounded individuals who will become community-focused leaders of Tanzania.

Follow a Story: Hilary’s new chapter can start with you.

Hilary is a six years old. He’s in Standard 1. Hilary enjoys studying and playing football with his friends.

“My dream is to become a soldier when I finish school so I can protect my school and protect my country,” Hilary says.

Primary school is an early and important chapter in a successful educational story. It’s where important fundamentals are taught and a love of learning is established.

St Jude’s offers scholarships to students in their first two years of primary school. But, even these youngest students are not exempt from our current sponsorship gap. You can help fill this gap by sponsoring the academic scholarship of Joshua, Jalilath, Getruda or Hilary and help change the story for them and their families.

Students who join The School of St Jude in secondary, after seven years in government primary schools, are often our most determined students. They’ve worked diligently, with few resources in difficult learning conditions, and emerged with top marks in their final primary national examinations. When they receive an academic scholarship to St Jude’s, their determination is rewarded with free, quality education.

Benito, Elizabeth, Ester and Faustin are four of these determined students, beating the odds to become some of the fortunate 30% of students their age enrolled in secondary school.

Benito and Ester are in Form 1 at St Jude’s Secondary School and St Jude’s Girls’ Secondary School respectively. Both are just one term into their St Jude’s stories, and they’re already seeing the benefits of their scholarships. Elizabeth and Faustin, both in Form 2, are in their second year at St Jude’s and have learnt in leaps and bounds over the last 18 months.

Their academic scholarships provide Benito, Elizabeth, Ester and Faustin with all the elements needed for a successful educational story. However, like 42% of St Jude’s newly enrolled secondary students, these four remarkable students are not fully sponsored.

Rewarded with Resources: After a primary education lacking in books and other school equipment, Faustin has all the resources he needs.

When new students start at St Jude’s, one of the first things they notice is the different school environment and the abundance of resources available.

“At my school, I had around 50 students in my class, and we didn’t have computers or a library,” explains Faustin, the eldest of five in his family.

In comparison, St Jude’s limits secondary class sizes to 30 students and is lucky to have well-equipped libraries, science and ICT labs on each campus.

For Benito, the second youngest of six children in his family, the road to secondary school at St Jude’s required a little extra determination. “I wanted to go to St Jude’s in primary, but I didn’t get in,” he explains. Though he didn’t pass the entrance exam to start primary school at St Jude’s, Benito wasn’t deterred. “I wanted to come because of the motto - fighting poverty through education,” he smiles. He worked hard during primary school, so that when he sat the secondary entrance exam, he passed and was offered a scholarship. “I felt so happy,” he says.

Try, Try Again: After missing out on primary selection, Benito was determined to earn a place in secondary at St Jude’s.

An important part of secondary school at St Jude’s is boarding. All secondary students board during term time in order to experience a safe and nurturing learning environment. At home, many students would spend hours on chores each day, reducing the window for study.

When Benito, is at home, he helps his single mother with chores. “I help by fetching water and carrying firewood. I walk for fifteen minutes to fetch water from a well and then carry it home,” he says. Now in boarding, Benito is happy to have his own bed and spend time with his friends.

Finding Her Feet in Secondary: Ester is making the most of her first year of secondary at St Jude’s.

At St Jude’s, students can dedicate themselves to their studies and develop their interests and skills with the instruction of skilled teachers. “My favourite subject is geography,” smiles Ester, “and my favourite teacher is Mr Chokora, who teaches me geography.”
Even outside of class, extra-curricular clubs provide students with the opportunity to learn more and extends their interests. Both Faustin and Benito are enthusiastic members of the Computer Club, where Benito is working to improve his typing speed and Faustin learns to design websites.
For students who join St Jude’s in secondary, school excursions are a pleasant surprise, which often help them to solidify their career paths. “I want to be a pilot,” says Elizabeth. “I just went on an excursion to the airport and I saw some aeroplanes and learned about them.”

A Future in Flight: Elizabeth (right) enjoys a recent excursion to the airport in Arusha.

A Future in Flight: Elizabeth (right) enjoys a recent excursion to the airport in Arusha.
Of course, not all students will have decided on a career in the first two years of secondary school, but these four all have lots of ideas for the future. “After school, maybe I will be a teacher,” Benito says. “But also water is a challenge in my community, so I would like to solve that.”

“I think it’s important to help young people because the youth are the ones who are needed for tomorrow’s nation. It will be good if I can be a counsellor to help young people,” ponders Faustin.

There are many students like Benito, Elizabeth, Ester and Faustin in Tanzania. Students with big dreams, world-changing ideas and huge potential. Unfortunately, many of these students will miss out on secondary education and be unable to fulfill their potential.

As part of our mission, St Jude’s aims to give bright, poor students like these the opportunity to receive free, quality secondary education so that they can fulfil their potential. Whatever careers Benito, Elizabeth, Ester and Faustin eventually decide to pursue, these students have both the determination and the opportunity to create a bright future for themselves, their families and their communities.