On the cusp of Tanzania’s general election, St Jude’s secondary school students have seen their own democracy in action.
Senior secondary students Farida and Victor, have been elected by their peers as Head Girl and Head Boy at our secondary (Smith) campus for the coming year.
And they certainly embody the St Jude’s vision for community-focused leaders.
“I know I am good enough to lead the people,” 20-year-old Victor said, after his successful campaign.
“I have always been around the people and I wanted to be their leader to address their needs. I want everyone at The School of St Jude to enjoy being here, to the point where, when the students go on holiday, they can’t wait to return as the school will be a very wonderful place.”
Farida said she was keen to make an impact.
“I can bring change by being fair to (the students’) matters,” the 19-year-old explained.
“I can make a change in school, and will gain many leadership skills.”
Numerous St Jude’s senior students ran for office, complete with a week of campaigning, and the results were announced last month.
“The whole school participated in weighing in on who will be their Head Girl,” Farida said.
Victor and Farida were given valuable guidance from the former Head Boy Sifuni, and former Head Girl Amina.
“(Amina) told me I’m supposed to have a positive relationship with everyone, including my fellow leaders, for this will make it easier to relate to them and talk about their matters,” Farida said.
Amina said their roles were about “motivating people and making promises you can fulfill”.
“I enjoyed it but there are a lot of challenges,” she said.
Victor, meanwhile, shadowed Sifuni to get the edge over his fellow candidates.
“I spent most of the time with him even before election, collecting some advice and ideas,” he said.
“(During campaigning) I explained what I will do for them; improve their welfare at the school and that sort of thing.”
Sifuni said the responsibilities of the Heads have increased recently and now include advising students, ensuring uniforms are neat and tidy, classrooms clean and students disciplined.
“When we were elected, we convinced the school management to give us more power over students and in decision making,” Sifuni explained.
“The management saw it was a good idea and they trusted us, so our responsibilities were extended.”
Farida and Victor said they expected the roles to improve their confidence and leadership skills immensely, and were both aware that it would not be an easy ride.
Victor was diplomatic in explaining how they would handle the challenges.
“You know some students don’t want to understand and follow school rules,” he said.
“I know this will be some of the difficulties but I am prepared to face them. We have different ways and if (a problem) is too big for me to handle I will pass that to the management and they should be able to offer some help.”
He said school ideals were also reflected in the Head Boy and Head Girl roles.
“We are about bringing the new leaders of Tanzania. It is part of the school passion to create future Tanzanian leaders,” he said.
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Jacklyn has known for the past six years she wants a future in broadcasting and nothing is going to stop her from fulfilling her dream.
The confident senior secondary student has worked hard to make a name for herself as a presenter around town, all the while developing her radio and television skills.
“Some people work for money, others work to get a big name, but it’s always beautiful when you do something for passion,” the ambitious 20-year-old said.
“I love this and I’m ready to do anything to make it happen. When I realised that, I started training myself.”
Jacklyn’s voice bubbles with enthusiasm as she shares her ambitions during this month’s Careers Day.
Professional speakers, including an architect, a doctor, an air traffic controller and our very own accountant Victoria Thomas, share their career secrets, while Jacklyn herself is the best-credentialed on campus to give advice on broadcasting.
She gained a reputation around St Jude’s as an MC at assembly and events like Cultural Day, and by making class presentations throughout the past few years. She branched out further into the community to broaden her experience.
“When I’m at home (on holidays), I usually go to a certain radio station – Clouds’ branch in Arusha. I go there for training and make some advertisements,” she said, adding that St Jude’s senior headmaster’s younger brother, who is a DJ at Clouds FM, has become her mentor.
“DJ Ali came to school when I was MCing an event, and he said I was good and he wanted to train me and gave me his contacts. When I was on holiday, I went to the studio, I recorded my programs, and then I see where I went wrong and correct it. He gives me training and advice, so when I go to university it will be good to already have knowledge of many things.”
Jacklyn said she plans to pursue mass communications, public relations and advertising through the school of journalism at the University of Dar es Salaam.
She stressed the importance of having good broadcasting in a place like Tanzania.
“This world is very big, and there are some things that people need to know and it’s hard for them to get that information here,” she said.
“Let’s say something very important happens in America. Who will let the people know about something like that, that is important to the whole world? When you have a radio, which can be very cheap, even farmers who are working out at the farm can hear the news. Most people like to hear the news, and when you are on the radio you go on the air and let them know about that stuff. People can get information, be entertained through music… that’s what we are doing.”
She said she would eventually like to work in Tanzania, and encourages everyone to pursue their passion by keeping a certain piece of advice in mind: don’t be afraid.
“I go on stage and host or MC and be crazy and make people happy and enjoy,” she said.
“I love it.”
It was an insight into the world of medicine many of our eager senior secondary biology students had been waiting for.
Six medical specialists from the United States, with experience ranging from ophthalmology to public health, found they were equally impressed with our students’ response to their two-day visit.
“(The students) have a great awareness, and the language they use… they really seem to understand community problems,” Amena Qureshi said, following her presentation on the public health sector. “It’s been great, really interesting to see their perspectives.”
The Chicago resident said it had been an eye-opening exercise for her group to see St Jude’s students’ viewpoints. Her presentation with fellow team member Haifa Haroon required students to identify a public health problem and come up with a solution.
“They’re talking just like we would, as grad students, and know what their community needs,” she said.
It’s just as well.
St Jude’s students who decide to pursue a health profession, and other medical professionals who travel to Tanzania to lend their expertise, are sorely needed. UNICEF states that while health care in the country has improved, about 390 children under five years old still die every day of mainly preventable and treatable conditions.
While sharing their knowledge and experience with our students, this latest medical group put their skills to good use by giving free check-ups to students with vision problems. Prior to that, only days before their arrival, they summited Mt Kilimanjaro and raised $40,000 for international charity World Sight.
Team organiser and ophthalmologist Dr Arwa Alsamarae said their St Jude’s visit seemed natural to include in the whirlwind fundraising trip.
“It all just came together,” she said. “It was fun, it was incredible, and there were a lot of students who were interested in medicine.”
Dr Arwa told the class how she decided to pursue a career in her field after discovering that some people’s sight could be restored through the magic of just a 10-minute cataract procedure.
Recent graduate Akram Alsamarae shared his biomedical engineering knowledge, while Zeeshan Bhatti and Bilal Ahmed, both hailing from Kentucky, gave an overview of medicine, the areas students could specialise in, and advice on how to achieve their goals.
“Diversify, interact with your community and develop a good ‘world sense’,” Bilal, who will begin medical school next year, said. “Be a better person overall when talking to others, continue to volunteer and take on leadership roles.
“Create a passion early on so you always have something to look forward to in the back of your mind.”
The good health of our students is essential for them to make the most of their education. Right now we are looking for health professionals, allied health professionals and organized individuals who enjoy working with youth and can volunteer, short-term, for our annual student medical checks between March 7 and 18, 2016.
The wheels of our brand new Moshono campus mill have started turning this month, and it’s just one way we are working hard to ensure our self-sufficiency.
Efforts to cut down on our running costs mean more of our funding can go toward developing our education program and facilities – and we’re finding ways to upskill our staff and educate our students in the process!
Here are three sustainability projects we’re excited about:
1. Grinding and storing our own maize
Grinding and storing our own maize means the thousands of school lunches served each week will be made on-site with freshly-ground ingredients.
Mary Horne, Purchasing Coordinator at St Jude’s Moshono campus, said the mill began in January and construction started in June. Benedict Barnabas, our Maintenance Service Team Leader, is hoping to finish the construction work later this month with a raised platform to pour the maize into the large storage silos.
“It will make things much easier for us. We buy maize and have storage areas to keep it here until we need to grind, with only two people needed to run it at a time,” Benedict said, adding that it is a particularly timely project as the price of maize has recently sky-rocketed due to weather changes.
This new strategy, run on machines constructed by local fundis (mechanics), means we will save money on fuel and enjoy freshly-ground maize meals at all three of our campuses.
2. Farming our own produce
Big plans are taking root in our gardens, with a large scale horticulture project at the Smith campus and small gardens at Moivaro and Moshono to grow our own fresh produce.
Five acres of Smith’s rich, fertile earth will provide the perfect bed for growing vegetables. Raised beds will be planted with cabbages, spinach, carrots, beans, tomatoes, squashes and other nutritious vegetables.
Two more acres will become home to fruit trees including avocados, mangoes, guavas, passion fruits, moringa and bananas.
The vegetable garden will be drip irrigated and include polythene tunnels to protect soft vegetables, with fertilizer applied to balance minerals in the soil.
Business manager Jim Hopkins said Samwel Christopher, Operations Deputy at Smith, would helm the project and “with his drive and enthusiasm it will work”.
“We hope to recruit a local farmer and initially use casual staff to prepare the raised beds and do the initial planting,” Jim said.
“Our students will help with the planting and harvesting of our crops and in the process learn first-hand about agriculture, Tanzania’s primary industry. Then they can enjoy the finished product during school meals!”.
3. The power of solar
Solar power is lighting up much of St Jude’s, and our students are learning of its benefits.
As a sustainable and renewable resource, solar power is particularly practical in hot and sunny Arusha. As we are also close to Mt Meru, where it becomes cold in winter and at night, solar heaters are very helpful.
Currently our boarding accommodation has solar water heaters for the Form 5 and 6 students, and some of the primary children. This allows them hot showers and hot water to cook and wash clothes with, all while being friendly to the environment!
You can help us secure our aim for a more self-sufficient future by helping fund our garden. We are grateful for a USD$30k donations, but will still need around USD$50k to see our plans come to fruition. Help us by making a general donation.
A solar water heater costs around $2,000 and provides around 200 liters of hot water each day when the sun is shining. Our primary students and lower secondary student would benefit from having this facility available.
More than 1700 students spilled through the St Jude’s gates early on a Saturday morning.
Underprivileged youngsters escorted by their parents to wait in the crowd as early as 6.30am, with testing to enter Standard 1 (Grade 1) at St Jude’s set to begin at 8am.
The mass of excited, giggling children came through the school in groups, a logistical challenge for our staff who were on-hand to direct them through the process
Just after 3pm the children had all been tested, with 108 meeting the English, maths, science and age requirements.
It’s the start of a long, arduous process that defines what St Jude’s is about.
“We would love to give everyone in Arusha a scholarship to St Jude’s, but, unfortunately that’s just not possible,” school founder Gemma Sisia said.
“So we’ve spent years refining our student selection process to ensure it’s a fair, effective and thorough process that guarantees worthy and deserving families are receiving the benefit of a St Jude’s education.
“By helping the families that need it most we’re able to break the cycle of poverty by providing a free, high-quality education.”
By the time the weekly tests finish in November we will have tested an estimated 10,000 students, according to Community Relations Manager Charlotte Peyrat-Vaganay.
With only 150 spots available in St Jude’s each year it is essential we get the selection process right.
Our Community Relations team will spend the next three months visiting the homes of students who pass the academic test to ensure they pass the strict poverty requirements.
“It’s a very tough job but it is essential that we get it right,” Charlotte explained.
“We need to make sure we are finding the people who need our help the most.
“When the students have been selected and you see the difference it makes for their families, it is worth it.”
St Jude's wouldn't be able to accept 150 new students each year without new sponsors. Find out more about sponsoring one of our students.
Our students explored their cultural roots with boundless energy, making our sixth annual Cultural Day an event to remember.
Held at our Usa River campus, the colourful celebration featured a wide variety of Tanzanian music, dance, dress and food.
St Jude’s students represent 61 cultural tribes, with just over a quarter of those being Chagga. Many of our students also hail from the Maasai, Pare, Mwarusha, Msambaa and Meru tribes.
All these different cultures weave together to create a peaceful, vibrant and diverse country, where the population considers itself Tanzanian first and foremost.
For Cultural Day we spoke to Tanzanians from different backgrounds, so they could proudly share their roots with the whole St Jude’s family.
Area: Northern Tanzania and south-west of Kenya (the Maasai Mara National Reserve).
Lifestyle: The Maasai are semi-nomadic and raise livestock on seasonal rotation. According to the Maasai Association, women are responsible for constructing their houses, which are made of mud, sticks, cow dung and cow’s urine. Women also look after domestic duties, while male warriors are in charge of security.
The elders are directors and advisors for day-to-day activities.
Form 6 student and proud Maasai Godson (pictured above, second from the right) says “young boys look after the cattle and young girls who help their mums at home with domestic works”.
And how many wives can a Maasai man have? “Fortunately, or unfortunately, we do not have a limit. The limit is the sky,” Godson said. “You can marry as many women as you can, provided you have enough wealth to feed the family.”
Cuisine: “If you consider that we are nomads, meat is our first food, and then milk from the cattle.” Godson said. “We also drink blood. It’s to keep energy, and must be fresh. What we do is take it from the cow (elders know how to take it from a live cow), and apply cow dung to the wound to stop (bleeding).
We stir that blood, and sometimes we mix it with milk or take it alone. We do not keep that blood for later use. Some Maasai in town take vegetables but before we didn’t take it. Ladies took vegetables, but even today, men believe ‘how can I share grass with animals? If a cow eats grass, how can I eat grass?”
Dress: Age and location dictate clothing, although red is a favoured colour. Animal hides have generally been replaced with cotton cloth, with shukas (basic pieces of fabric wrapped around the body) commonly worn. Kangas (one-piece sarongs) are also common, as are body decorations such as jewellery and piercings.
Fast fact, and Godson’s favourite thing about being Maasai: “The fascinating thing about being a Maasai is that we are exposed to the environments where we become brave. For example, I am now a Moran, a Maasai youth warrior, whose main duty is to look after the tribe. Our duty is to look after the security of the tribe.
To do this, we have to be brought up in an environment where we become brave. One of the things we used to do was fight lions. You had to do it with a spear and a bush knife, and no-one would come rescue you. We believe the lion is the beast of the forest, so if you are able to fight a lion, who else could scare you? No-one.
Today we do not fight lions because we have been educated enough on the conservation of environment and wildlife, and the importance of having them. It is fascinating now, that in places like Ngorongoro Crater, Maasai now live with lions. Today, we just have a positive attitude and self-confidence. Even if I’m not going to fight a lion, I know I’m still capable of taking care of my family, and being responsible for the security of my tribe. What made us able to kill a lion was not our physical fitness, but our mental attitude.”
Area: On the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro, says St Jude’s Form 1 student Nancy (pictured above, in centre wearing black). Households live amongst banana/plantain groves, with coffee plantations also popular.
Lifestyle: Traditionally, Chaggas work on their farms, with jobs divided by gender – men feed goats, build houses and prepare fields, while women look after domestic duties and are in charge of trading in the marketplace.
Cuisine: Nancy says a large part of the Chagga diet is bananas and plantains, or ‘ndizi’, as well as a little milk. Their staple crop is millet.
Dress: According to Nancy, Chaggas traditionally wear a specific type of kanga (cloths that are wrapped around the body), known as a ‘kaniki’. They can only be black and/or white (like the one she wore during Cultural Day).
Fast fact: They have a reputation for being good businesspeople. Encyclopaedia Britannica describes them as “one of the wealthiest and most highly organized of Tanzanian peoples”. One such example is Michael Shirima, founder and owner of Precision Air, Tanzania’s largest privately-owned airline.
Nancy’s favourite thing about being a Chagga: “I’m proud of being a Chagga because they’re from around Mt Kilimanjaro. The food is also really nice.”
Area: North-eastern Tanzania, in the Arusha and Manyara regions.
Lifestyle: Emmanuel (pictured), who is a teacher at St Jude’s, said the Iraqw raise livestock, hunt and cultivate. “We live in parts of the mountain, we like the cool places,” he explains. “We also have traditional dance, almost like Maasai, but ours is a bit different. We jump and we have spears.”
Cuisine: According to Emmanuel, their traditional food is ‘makande’ (maize cooked with beans or meat).
Dress: Shukas (basic pieces of fabric wrapped around the body), like the Maasai.
Fast fact: The Iraqw language is greatly influenced by Hebrew and Arabic, as the people originally came from an area in Ethiopia near Somalia.
Emmanuel’s favourite thing about being Iraqw: “Our language, our wearing style, and, above all, we are known for having girls who are very beautiful. They have nice hair – wavy and smooth.”
Area: Central Tanzania, in the Dodoma region.
Lifestyle: People from the Gogo tribe typically raise livestock, according to St Jude’s Form 5 student Simon (pictured above, far right). He said it is quite common to have larger families, and other Gogos are often surprised he is only one of three children.
Cuisine: Simon says ugali, a common Tanzanian food, is a staple. However, the Gogo make their version from wheat, instead of the traditional maize flour, millet flour, or Sorghum flour. “It means ‘power’,” Simon says. “The wheat means power. If someone takes it they get courageous”.
Dress: (Modern) dress includes trousers and a Maasai shuka (a basic piece of fabric that can be worn a variety of ways). Women wear loose-fitting dresses made of solid or printed cotton fabric.
Fast fact: They are “very good singers,” according to Simon. Examples include popular Tanzanian singer Ben Paul and traditional singer Hukwe Zawose.
Help us continue to educate and empower our students through events like Cultural Day by making a donation to our school.
