St Jude’s had the honour of hosting the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton Relay here at Sisia Campus on 10 April. 

The Queen’s Baton Relay launched at Buckingham Palace on 4 April and we were so lucky to be part of the 388-day journey through the entire Commonwealth.

We were delighted to welcome H. E. John Feakes (Australian High Commissioner) and H. E. Ms Sarah Cooke (British High Commissioner), Commonwealth Games champion Filbert Bayi, the Tanzanian Olympic Committee and the baton bearers to St Jude’s.

Our guests were treated to a special melodic moment–the three national anthems for Tanzania, Australia and Britain. 

"Today was spectacular day with all of the students involved," His Excellency John Feakes said.

"As an Australian I am incredibly proud of the work that has been done here at St Jude's and what Gemma has achieved in such a short period of time. Providing a quality education to kids who would otherwise miss out is really life giving," he said.

"I urge people that haven't heard about St Jude to get involved."

It was a day of champions! Record breaking athlete and Secretary General of the Tanzanian Olympic Committee Filbert Bayi, carried the baton into the school and had a special message for our students.

"My wish is for more Tanzanians, especially from St Jude's to break my record! I've seen so many sports fields here," athlete Filbert Bayi said.

Filbert told our students that he believes success is attributed to these things, “without working hard, without being positive and without knowing what you are doing. Without having a vision, you will never perform."

"Coming here I was so surprised. I was born in Arusha ... this place is fantastic, especially the education", said Filbert.

"I am sure in the 2020 Commonwealth Games there will be a participant from St Jude's."

Our students each were able to touch the baton. They were intrigued that there is a secret message from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II sealed in a special compartment to be revealed at the games. 

The baton itself also has an interesting story. The materials used to make the baton represent past in the mahogany wood from the Gold Coast, present in the metal inscribed with each country it passes through and the future in the recycled plastic salvaged from the Gold Coast beaches and oceans.

It was a joyful occasion and ended with the students participating in their own mini-games!

There is always something interesting happening at our school! Visit us and see for yourself.

Our 2016 St Jude’s graduates are already showing the skills needed to become leaders of Tanzania through their involvement with the Rotaract Club of St Jude’s Arusha.

Community Service Year interns Godfrey, Winrose and Miriam have been running workshops for unemployed youths through our Rotaract club’s first project, Vijana Poa.

Vijana Poa, meaning “youth are cool” in Kiswahili, was designed to combat the biggest social problem facing youth on the continent – unemployment.

“We discovered 53% of Tanzanian youth are unemployed, so we decided that work readiness training and entrepreneurship education through the project would be a great way to inspire and empower some deserving youths,” club President Seb Cox said. 

“Using the Rotary Vijana Poa model, we projected a budget, held a fundraiser and sought support through our mother club, the (local) Rotary club of Arusha Mount Meru. Through an extensive application process we found 12 motivated and deserving local youths to participate in the program.”

Our 2016 St Jude’s graduates are already showing the skills needed to become leaders of Tanzania through their involvement with the Rotaract Club of St Jude’s Arusha.

Community Service Year interns Godfrey, Winrose and Miriam have been running workshops for unemployed youths through our Rotaract club’s first project, Vijana Poa.

Vijana Poa, meaning “youth are cool” in Kiswahili, was designed to combat the biggest social problem facing youth on the continent – unemployment.

“We discovered 53% of Tanzanian youth are unemployed, so we decided that work readiness training and entrepreneurship education through the project would be a great way to inspire and empower some deserving youths,” club President Seb Cox said. 

“Using the Rotary Vijana Poa model, we projected a budget, held a fundraiser and sought support through our mother club, the (local) Rotary club of Arusha Mount Meru. Through an extensive application process we found 12 motivated and deserving local youths to participate in the program.”

The majority of these participants had attained only a primary-level education and struggled to find gainful employment, with many spending their days walking door-to-door to find a job.

The majority of these participants had attained only a primary-level education and struggled to find gainful employment, with many spending their days walking door-to-door to find a job.

Their workshop, comprising of intensive one-day classes, began last month and covered topics such as Generating a Business and Developing and Managing Employment. 

“We found the existing Vijana Poa modules to be a fantastic program framework, but the make-up and education levels of our participants called for continuous reflection and flexibility within the original sessions,” project officer Olivia Leach said. 

“The two original business practicals of soap-making and juice-making were major program highlights.”

It seems all the hard work and dedication, from everyone involved, is paying off.

While no financial or employment opportunities from project participation were promised, Rotaract members were so impressed by the participants’ skills and aspirations they were soon soliciting within their networks for potential mentors, internships and pathways to employment.

They drafted a letter to local Rotarians and business owners that returned over 12 suitable placements, four paid at a stipend and seven with agreed upon pathways to employment. The internships will initially run for three months, with club members assigned to oversee each placement.

Donate to St Jude’s today and know your money will go a long way. Our school community actively aids thousands of others locally, just like Rotaract members have given these young people “a hand up, not a hand-out”. Help fight poverty through education today!

Each year, our international Health Check Team, local St Jude’s staff and interns work hard to ensure every facet of our students’ wellbeing is cared for.

Their long history at St Jude’s has seen many of these volunteer members return time and time again to provide invaluable service. The team listens to health concerns raised by students and their teachers and provide the expertise needed to identify potential health problems that may interfere with learning.

Team leader and student sponsor Dr Philippa Binns, who has been part of the team for the past eight years, has continued to facilitate the two-week process. She is happy to see the school continue to assist families of students with conditions that require further management by appropriate local health care providers. 

This year, the team had counselling expertise and the ability to screen hearing, in addition to the usual routine eyesight, height, weight and general health checks.

“The objective of counselling is to enhance student wellbeing and, in enhancing student wellbeing, you’re going to enhance the academic performance,” social worker Dan Baschiera said.

Dan, a student sponsor with almost 40 years’ experience as a social worker, came to St Jude’s last year and completed a needs assessment. 

“The teachers here (at St Jude’s) have very good collective care skills, and the training I’ve been doing this year has been to enhance this awareness,” he said. 

Dan also identified a need to secure continued access to student counselling services and a local mental health facility with which St Jude’s student wellbeing would be enhanced by strengthened ties. 

Meanwhile, when teacher for the deaf and student sponsor Glenys Abrahams visited St Jude’s in 2016 and discovered the health checks did not include formal hearing loss screening, she saw an area she could help with. 

“When I was last here I spoke to Gemma and, and she put me in touch with Dr Pip so I discussed it with her, and it’s now being piloted this year,” she said.

She reached out to her network to find the necessary equipment for testing, and throughout the past fortnight, Glenys and her colleagues have screened all students in Grade 1 and Form 1, as well as those students where they or their teacher have been concerned about their hearing.

The visiting team of 20 employed their skills to ensure the health and wellbeing of our primary and secondary students. Not only were students’ mental and audio welfare checked, but experts in general medicine, orthoptics, physiotherapy, nursing and even a paramedicine student, also ensured their skills were put to good use. They were ably assisted by St Jude’s staff, including recently graduated interns.

Many thanks to: Doctors Philippa Binns (team leader), Philip Bookallil, Craig Boutlis, Jenny Davis, Catherine Foley, Lee Wuen Meakin, Gordon Mor; Orthoptists Emily Burnham, Kylie Robinson, Julie Taylor, Kahina Terbah; Hearing check members Glenys Abrahams (teacher for the deaf) and June Jorgensen (teacher); Counsellors Dan Baschiera (social worker), Nina van Breugel (social worker) and Janene Hill (school psychologist); Helpers Nichola Heagney (bachelor of paramedicine student), Jane Larkin (physiotherapist), Belinda Lock (nurse) and John Mor (logistician). We hope you enjoyed your visit and we appreciate your work!

See the important work the Medical Check Team are doing at St Jude’s in this video. Find out how you can contribute here.

Leadership is a quality we work hard to instill in our students here at St Jude’s, and one of our Beyond St Jude’s interns has stepped up to show how it’s done.

Daudi, a Community Service Year intern who has been busy teaching commerce and bookkeeping at his government school, recently arranged for some of his students and fellow teachers to visit St Jude’s and share their pursuit of a high-quality, fulfilling education.

“The point of this trip was not to show them how good the students at St Jude’s have it, it was to inspire them to keep learning, even though their resources are few,” Daudi said of the day trip. 

“I want my students to connect with others who are passionate about their studies, and to see how other students take their studies seriously. Many of my students are simply at school because their parents brought them here, but now they can see that there are goals to achieve. Talking to St Jude’s students will hopefully inspire them and also create connections and new friendships.”

Thirty-one of Daudi’s Njiro Secondary School students, as well as four of his fellow staff members, arrived at our secondary campus to take a tour of  the campus, a Q and A session with our teachers and sit in on a class.

“Your students are clearly leaders already. They are confident and outspoken and also open with their teachers,” Njiro Secondary teacher Kileiyo Thomas said. “I hope our students can learn to become leaders like these students. Our students don’t believe in themselves, but they should!” 

Daudi decided to give back to his community before pursuing higher education, by working as an intern teacher through our Beyond St Jude’s program. He graduated from St Jude’s last year, and is currently one of only two commerce teachers in the entire Njiro Secondary of 434 students!

The first group of community service interns who gave back to their communities by serving in under-resourced government schools taught about 10,000 students that otherwise would not have had teachers.

In a country where the population averages just five years of schooling, and 66.6% of people do not reach secondary school, our CSY interns are making an inspirational impact.

“They’ve now seen that I come from an educational background that would have allowed me to continue straight on to university, but chose to help those in need first, so I hope that they will do the same for their community one day,” he said.

Before the day was over the students had planned more activities and excursions for the future. We are so proud of Daudi for promoting education in Arusha and for going above and beyond for this community!

Help more of our high school graduates give back to their communities and fight poverty through education! Support Beyond St Jude’s interns by emailing sponsorbeyond@schoolofstjude.co.tz for more information today.

Our students have continued to impress academically, with outstanding results across the campuses in recent national exams. 

It’s been another successful year for our Grade 4 students, this year ranking first in the district, second in our region and in the top .04% of the entire nation. 87.6% of the students achieved the top grade in the difficult exams.

In 2016 our Grade 4 students also achieved impressive results, ranking first in the district and third in the region. 

George Stephen, our Primary Headmaster, could barely contain his enthusiasm. 

“Our school managed to maintain the first position in two consecutive years in the district, which is not easy with the competition from the Arusha municipal schools,” he said. “We did it again! This performance has made me feel very successful both as a teacher and the leader of the school.” 

Not to be outdone, our high school students have also achieved some stellar results. 

Our Form 2 students aced their exams, with 96% achieving the top possible mark. This included 133 students topping English, and 121 for biology. 

Acting secondary headmaster Adam Myombe was very proud of the students and teachers who achieved the results.  

“I am very proud of what we have achieved with my team and students. I always feel honoured to be making a difference as part of the St Jude’s family,” he said. “Academic success is not just determined by how bright a student is, it is about the hard work they put in to achieve their goals”. 

These results continue the St Jude’s tradition of impressive academic success. We can’t wait to see what the rest of 2017 holds for our students!

Want to help a St Jude’s student succeed? Sponsor a student today.

I just came from a home visit to meet the student newly-sponsored by Seesaw (the wonderful graphic design and branding geniuses who have partnered with St Jude’s to help us achieve our new look on a pro-bono basis). She’s in Grade 1 and doesn’t speak much English yet, but I communicated with her by drawing pictures of trees and animals in the window condensation, eliciting some smiles. It was pouring outside which created pools in the dirt roads, but after a bumpy ride, the student, the translator, Mzee, and I made it. 
 
Seeing the mother swelling with pride over her daughter going to St Jude’s was a beautiful experience. It showed me that her education matters not just abstractly the way it might for you and me but in a way that will completely change and uplift the family. (She’s already passing on information by tutoring her younger sister.) There’s hope in the mother’s eyes when her daughter shares her aspirations to become a doctor but not without the recognition that it’ll be hard work which she makes clear to me.

As a designer, it’s a unique experience to see the direct impacts of the organisation I’m working with. Normally, I finish a project and move on to the next without much feedback beyond a short email. Working on location at St Jude’s has been completely different from working remotely in Melbourne—I see the full life cycle of St Jude’s mission when I work with interns who have graduated from the school. Their stories of rising out of extreme poverty to receiving acceptances into international universities are almost unbelievable. 

Working here as a designer, there’s not much to complain about. Both my Australian and Tanzanian co-workers have welcomed me heartily. Since we’re all here as part of a bigger vision, the collaboration is natural. Plus, it’s a new and valuable opportunity to work within a marketing team instead of a group of designers. When working on a design team, the importance of look is elevated, but being here exercises my skills on clarity and function in relation to our target audience more so than anything else. The lesson of communicating with co-workers who have skills outside of design in order to reach a common goal has been invaluable, and I’ve only been here for a few weeks. I can’t wait to keep learning, to keep seeing the success of the students, and to keep designing.

ou too can have a working adventure at St Jude’s! We’re currently looking for enthusiastic, talented people to help us spread the word, so consider applying today.