When you support St Jude’s, you aren’t just providing free education to the poorest and brightest students in Arusha. You’re supporting almost 300 talented, dedicated staff members committed to fighting poverty in their community.
In our Staff Spotlight series you get the chance to meet these impressive members of the St Jude’s family.
Lawyer. Fashion designer. Inspirational woman.
That’s what St Jude’s graduate Miriam envisions when she thinks about what she will be 10 years from now.
“So many girls (in Tanzania) fall into different traps, they are facing so many problems in life and they can’t help themselves,” Miriam said.
“Here in Africa, so many women miss out on a lot of opportunities because people do not believe in them. I want to be a different woman, I want to show my fellow African women that we can do so many good things.”
One of seven siblings raised by their mother, Miriam received a life-changing opportunity when she earned a St Jude’s scholarship as a Grade 2 student.
“My mum has been through a lot of hardships, and raised all seven of us (children) by herself. She was struggling hard for us to live a good life and had to fight for us to eat, be dressed and go to school,” she said, adding that her education at St Jude’s gave them all hope.
“My mum is an amazing, strong woman but looking at what she has been through, I didn’t want to live that life. I was the luckiest to come to St Jude’s. What I got here I would never get anywhere else in Tanzania. I have seen what my little brothers have been going through (in government schools), and sometimes they can’t even get books,” she said. “My school time (at St Jude’s) has been like heaven, which is something so many kids don’t get from their school.”
After graduating in May, Miriam chose to give back for her free, high-quality education by volunteering in the St Jude’s business office.
She’s one of the most creative members of our team, and her formidable drive has helped her succeed with various projects here in the past six months – one of which has been producing the jewellery line available during Gemma and fellow graduate Winrose’s 2017 Australian visit.
To Miriam, who also designs and makes clothing, creativity comes naturally. However, she said it’s the hard work and a “can do” attitude that is allowing her to become the successful and inspirational woman she aspires to be.
Miriam said amazing, inspirational women “trigger her spirit” and she wants to do the same for others.
“I was researching inspirational women and read about women like Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama,” she said. “But then I sat down and thought, no, my mum is the best. She made me who I am today, and I can see what she has achieved with my own eyes. There is no one else like her.”
She said her good fortune of having other inspirational female role models in her life, like St Jude’s founder Gemma Sisia, has helped her make decisions in life that will get her closer to the future she dreams of.
“Professionally, I want to be a lawyer and I can still be a designer (on the side),” she said. “Ten years from today, I’ll be a lawyer, a designer, a wonderful mother and an amazing wife. I’ll be an inspirational woman.”
Support our students and help them improve their lives with get a free, high-quality education. Sponsor a student like Miriam today and help give them hope for a better future.
Our EarlyAct and Interact clubs are now official members of the international Rotary family!
Their initial hard work was officially recognised with a celebratory event filled with fanfare, songs and inspirational words late last year. This “Installation” event featured guests from Rotary groups in the Netherlands and Belgium, and those clubs closer to home welcomed them with open arms.
“To the students of St Jude’s, I recommend you to ask us, as your local Usa Rotary Club, if you need help with your community projects as we will be there to help you,” Usa River Rotary President Rebecca Saunder said.
Rebecca spoke about the benefits of the global Rotary family and, along with our school founder Gemma and fellow local Rotary district assistant governor Anna Rweyemamu, gave certificates to each of the EarlyAct and Interact students.
EarlyAct and Interact are Rotary-associated clubs that help teach the important Rotary message of service above self. EarlyAct is designed for students between five and 13, while Interact is for our students aged between 12 and 18.
Each elated EarlyAct and Rotaract student received a certificate, handshake and praise for their hard work to set up the clubs and become officially installed. Gemma was clearly impressed by their achievement.
“All of our students involved in Rotary really put St Jude’s values into practice, they represent the school wherever they go,” she said.
Our EarlyAct students value their newly-recognised club, as they spoke of what they would like to achieve with Rotary over this school year.
“I want to have more kindness in our community,” Anthia in Grade 3 said.
“I need a clean environment and more children to play with,” Noreen in Grade 6 said.
As an Interact member, Eric in Form 2 has really taken the club to heart.
“I wanted to join our Interact club to have the opportunity to help people around the world and to build friendships among those living around me,” he said.
“I heard about Rotary from the community work they do. Rotary came to my aunt’s village for a project that helps preserve the rain, so I decided to join Interact and help too.”
Rotary is strong at St Jude with over 70 members across both groups and room to grow. Keep an eye out to see what they achieve next!
We’re proud that our Interact and EarlyAct clubs are now officially part of the global Rotary family. You can help spread the word of our school, and how it has thrived thanks to our Rotary relationship, by downloading a presentation pack here.
When you support St Jude’s, you aren’t just providing free education to the poorest and brightest students in Arusha. You’re supporting almost 300 talented, dedicated staff members committed to fighting poverty in their community. In our Staff Spotlight series you get the chance to meet these impressive members of the St Jude’s family.
Meet Sebastian – the young Aussie Rotaractor who has been busy building Interact and Rotaract clubs within St Jude’s. He even started our EarlyAct club – the very first in East Africa!
Known as ‘Seb’, he had his first taste of Rotary in primary school.
“I am from Canberra and when I was young I would go and watch the Rotary bicycle ride every year. I did not know much about Rotary other than that they were the bike ride organisers!”
It was on a visit to our school in 2009 that Seb learnt more about Rotary, and its influence around the world.
The connection between St Jude’s and Rotary is impossible to miss. The world famous Rotary wheel is painted at the front entrance of each of our campuses and the story of how Rotary helped us build St Jude’s is told every time we recite the school’s history.
Encouraged by family and the experience he had at St Jude’s, Seb joined Rotary’s youth organisation, Rotaract, in 2014.
“I joined (Rotaract) as I like the networking aspect of Rotary,” he said. “How you can meet a different group of people than your normal social circle.”
Two years later, 22-year-old Seb returned to St Jude’s to bring Rotary’s connection full circle.
He is now the Rotary Coordinator, building EarlyAct, Interact and Rotaract clubs within St Jude’s.
“It has certainly been a lot of work to get our school clubs off the ground,” Seb said. “However, it has been so rewarding. Many of the students have been so enthusiastic and shown commitment to their club from the start. The school staff have been very supportive and have helped run EarlyAct sessions on Monday afternoons.”
Rotary’s motto this year is ‘serving humanity’ and how it is the people that spark the life of an organisation.
“Noreen, in Grade 6, is now famous among the Rotary in Arusha,” Seb said. “She is only 11 or 12 years old, but she had the confidence to make a speech to the Rotarians of Mount Meru when our EarlyActers visited the club.
“The Rotarians’ feedback was very positive; they loved how she presented herself with maturity beyond her years and spoke with poise and flair. ‘Good evening everybody. It is so good to be with all you wonderful people. But let’s get to the point!’ Everybody laughed at her opening remarks!”
Noreen is a clear example of the importance of EarlyAct and Interact for our students. EarlyAct is aimed at primary school students, while Interact was set-up to interest high school students in Rotary. They present a fantastic opportunity for students to develop a community service mindset at a young age.
“The community projects that the students do in Rotary teach them so many skills,” Seb said. “They have to decide, lead and manage these projects and can use these skills in the future.”
Working at St Jude’s can be a very rewarding experience – just ask Seb! Various roles in the St Jude’s team are now open. See here if you’ve got what it takes to help educate the future of Tanzania!
Just as the hands of skilled Rotarians built our very first classrooms, the little hands of EarlyActers are now keeping busy with projects that continue to do our school proud.
Late last year EarlyAct students, from our entry-level Rotary-associated club designed for students aged between five and 13, busily made the most of our disposable waste by creating paper mache artworks as a gift towards our fellow Arusha Mt Meru Rotary club.
“I like art because I am creative!” Grade 6 student Noreen proudly explains, showing off her elephant sculpture. “It’s good to recycle paper instead of putting it into the rubbish bin.”
EarlyAct president Miriam, along with Noreen and fellow Grade 6 student Mariam took piles of discarded paper and busily cut, mashed and mixed it with glue. They molded, sculpted and fashioned the clumps into shapes and animals.
Mariam molded the paper mulch into the word ‘EarlyAct’ to make a sign for the group.
“After it is dry I will paint the letters blue and yellow as these are the Rotary colors,” she said. “Next we will try and make the Rotary wheel!”
St Jude’s staff member and Rotaractor Jacqui supports the EarlyAct members during their sessions, and said her passion for Rotary comes from her late father who was a Rotarian himself.
“This project will help us protect our environment by reducing waste,” Jacqui said. “I like seeing their passion and how they want to do everything themselves. This is a great group!”
The group’s environmentally-friendly artworks received the Rotary seal of approval when they presented their first piece, a sculpture of the Rotary emblem, to the Arusha Mt Meru Rotary club.
Keep an eye out on our blog and newsletter in the near future for more projects our EarlyActers are getting stuck into!
It was the grooviest fundraiser Arusha had ever seen.
Rotaractors shimmied, twisted and mashed-potatoed at their 60s-themed bash to raise money for a youth unemployment program, Vijana Poa (which translates to “Youth is Cool” in Swahili) which provides workshops in entrepreneurship, and secures internships and support (including small start-up loans) to set up small businesses.
The far-out fundraising approach paid off, and Rotaract raised Tsh518,000 (about AU$325) for the Vijana Poa project. It’s a feat the club are particularly proud of, as they decided to focus on the program after considering the challenges facing some of our student’s siblings.
The Vijana Poa program was started by Rotary in Tanzania and Uganda and focuses on supporting unemployed youth, as this is a major challenge facing both countries. Currently in Tanzania the unemployment rate is 54% and Uganda at 64% (Rotary Vijana Poa, 2015).
Our Rotaractors, made up of members from 18 to 30 years old, will work with 10 unemployed student’s siblings to help them start their own small business, or to earn an internship in a local business. They will start with a series of workshops in Swahili this month.
Our Rotaract club’s fundraising evening featured a silent auction, live music and karaoke, as everyone danced along to the inaugural performance of the St Jude’s Staff Band. Hilda (Marketing), Aziz (Accounts), Maggie (HR) and Francis (Photography) performed a circa 1960s set including ‘Twist and Shout,’ ‘Hit the Road Jack’ and ‘Lean On Me.’ Silent auction prizes, from Burundian coffee, soaps and tailored clothing, were donated.
Community Relations team member Tracey attended the event and said it was interesting to learn about the project and what her co-workers have been up to.
“It has been so great to see the work of busy young professionals, like Viv (Beyond St Jude’s and Rotaract treasurer) and Aziz, who already do so much for their community in their free time but can find the time and energy to give even more,” she said.
Once the Vijana Poa project is complete, the youth will be supported and encouraged by Rotaractors to get an internship, start a business or gain employment.
The future is bright for young Tanzanians and our Rotaractors!
The St Jude’s Rotary office was filled with the sounds of craftwork as Interactors got busy with their latest community project.
“We are making blackboard dusters to give to schools. I think I have made over five so far!” explains enthusiastic secondary student Eva.
As well as being a practical show of goodwill for a local school, who can then prioritise their limited budget on providing more books for their students, the blackboard dusters have another benefit. They are made out of recycled foam from old mattresses and help reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. The soft, spongey material is perfect for a new life as a duster!
Once a mini mountain of dusters had been made, our students hopped on a St Jude’s bus to give them to two neighboring schools in Arusha - Oldadai and Njiro Secondary Schools. The smile from Oldadai Secondary School headmaster Urio Godson shows they were well received!
Both schools are supported by our Community Service Year Interns (CSY) Interns. Many local government schools do not have enough teachers, and a student to teacher ratio that makes effective teaching difficult. It is not uncommon to see over 100 children in one classroom.
Daudi is one of last year’s St Jude graduates doing his Community Service Year at Njiro Secondary School, and Kelvin is at Oldadai Secondary School. Now that The School of St Jude has both intern teachers and a supply of blackboard dusters to help support our local community, we are sure our Rotarian students can build on this with their community project plans in the future.
Interact gives our students the confidence to present their ideas and the opportunity to get a project off the ground and out into the world. The blackboard duster project was the brainchild of Edgar from Form 3. Rotary Coordinator Seb was full of praise for the community-minded student.
“He is brilliant. Edgar constantly tries to develop more knowledge about Rotary and goes to the library to research in his free time,” he said. “The dusters were his idea. He came to me with the idea and I encouraged him to take it to the club President and board. He even taught the other Interactors how to make them.”
St Jude’s students love to help others, so show your support for their community enthusiasm by helping fund their projects. They learn skills for life and grow confidence!
