Planning your stay

A St Jude’s itinerary is flexible and can be tailored to suit your guests’ interests and schedule.

A visit during Form 6 graduation week in May is extra special. Guests visiting us in May can attend our one-of-a-kind graduation.

  • Our graduation ceremony is nothing short of spectacular!
  • To experience the full St Jude’s graduation week, we offer visitors an inclusive five-day itinerary covering most of the top ten activities.
  • The week is fun, engaging, social, and memorable.

We offer interactive and informative activities so you learn about the school, Tanzania’s culture and people.

It is ideal to save three days for a visit to St Jude’s, but this can be shorter or longer as time allows.

Selections from our top 10 activities can be made based on your guests’ interests and availability.

Tour a St Jude’s school, or three!

You are invited to visit all three campuses during your stay. Meet our students and staff and experience first hand the impact the school has on their lives and that of their family and community.

Learn to cook Tanzanian style

Food is an integral part of culture!
You can learn to prepare some traditional Tanzanian recipes with the help and guidance of our school graduates. To complete the experience, you will savour the goodness of the food you prepare together in a beautiful outdoor dining area.

Enjoy a home visit to a student’s family

A home visit gives first-hand insight into our students’ home lives and where they come from Guests have the option to purchase a Home Pack (US$48) as a gift for the family. The pack includes a solar light and necessities such as mosquito nets, rice, sugar, cooking oil, toothpaste, and soap.

Browse St Jude’s Art Gallery

St Jude’s holistic education approach gives students with avenues to explore their talents—and we found they have exceptionally artistic ones!
Our Art Gallery showcases some of the best works of our students, each piece reflecting a unique perspective and story. The artworks are available for sale, so you can take a piece of St Jude’s home with you. Proceeds from the sale of artworks go towards purchasing art supplies for the Art Program, and students artists receive a commission for themselves.

Take a ride on our iconic blue and yellow bus

Joining our students on their journey home on our big yellow school bus is a unique experience.
Students share about their day and what they have learned in class. You can also participate in joyful sing-alongs as they are dropped home, one by one.

Meet our Founding Director, Gemma Sisia

Our story is unique and exceptional thanks to our Founder, Gemma Sisia. You’ll have the chance to meet Gemma and hear from her how St Jude’s has grown from just one teacher and three students to now have 1,800 students and three campuses.

Participate in an extracurricular activity

St Jude’s education is BIG on extracurricular activities. From African drumming and traditional dances to football, volleyball and netball, there’s many opportunities to participate and join in with our students as they enjoy these extracurricular activities.

Go back to school – see a class in action

You can also join in our classroom and library lessons by reading with students, helping them with their work and taking part in music and art classes.

Take part in one of our weekly assemblies

Our school assembly at the end of each school week is spectacular, and visitors are always welcome. Held at the Smith or Sisia Campus, students dance and perform musical acts, offering a unique presentation of Tanzania’s rich culture

Observe how our graduates pay it forward in a visit to a government school

In their final year of secondary school, our Form 6 graduates can opt to do a Community Service Year (CSY) volunteer placement for their first year out of school. This year-long volunteering provides graduates a way of giving back in appreciation for the free education they received at St Jude’s.
As a CSY volunteer, they personify the school’s vision, sharing the knowledge and values they learned at St Jude’s by teaching in local government secondary schools. With a shortage of over 80,000 teachers across government schools in Tanzania, this program supports the government education system and provides an invaluable, unequalled community service in our region.

Since 2015, 980+ of our Form 6 graduates have participated in the CSY Program. In this time CSY volunteers have taught almost 24,000 government school students.

Some CSY volunteers teach classes of up to 100 students.

A visit shows, by contrast, the enormous challenges government school students face in furthering their education.
Get ready to be amazed and learn!