Each year, The School of St Jude community comes together for a day of celebration in honour of its namesake, the patron saint of hopeless cases. 

Founder, Gemma Sisia, chose the school’s name nearly 20 years ago as a nod to her own faith and belief that there is hope for every child to live a good life, rich with knowledge, love and compassion. 

These three values were demonstrated at the 2018 St Jude’s Day celebration, celebrated on Friday October 26 at Smith Secondary Campus – two days before St Jude’s official Feast Day. 

Our school’s students come from some of the most economically disadvantaged corners of Arusha. From families who hold on to steadfast hope that their child’s education will spread a ripple effect throughout their community and help them to navigate their way out of poverty. 

Inspired by the gift of the free, quality education their child has received from St Jude’s, these families donate household goods and simple food items to others in even greater need within Arusha. 

Students offered the gifts during a special Mass held at the beginning of St Jude’s Day and, in the days following, the gifts were distributed to orphanages and community centres. 

Erick, a current Form 4 student and winner of the 2017 Young Scientist Tanzania competition, is aware of the importance of giving back. 

“I could not be where I am now without support from St Jude’s. We as students will do whatever we can to spread the school’s message beyond our families. We want to help the community through the gift of education we have received,” he said. 

St Jude’s Day was also a chance for the school’s youngest students to meet with their older peers, enjoying colourful performances together throughout the day. 

“I love seeing the secondary students in costume and dancing on the stage. They are very talented,” Emmy, a Standard 5 student at Sisia Primary Campus, said. 

“Another good thing is the food. We eat royo (roast beef), bananas, rice and vegetables. It is delicious!” Emmy described. 

To end the day of celebration, the school gathered after lunch for a concert, when primary and secondary student groups performed cultural dances and songs of gratitude to Mama Gemma and St Jude. 

Class 2C from Sisia Primary Campus and the Ngoma Dance Club from Smith Secondary Campus emerged as the overall concert winners. Their combination of enthusiasm and the message their performances conveyed sent them soaring to the top of the judge’s lists! 

The day concluded with an impassioned vote of thanks from Academic Manager, Ms Liz, whose words drove home the premise on which St Jude’s was founded. 

“St Jude is the patron saint of hopeless causes. I want each and every one of you to know that you are not a hopeless cause. You may face situations and circumstances which seem hopeless, but you must always hold on to the hope that you will be triumphant.”

Be a part of our students’ triumphant journeys and help them give back to their community. Become a sponsor today.

Teaching of science and allied subjects, often short of the required number of teachers, got a boost in Arusha this week after Form VI graduates started teaching as volunteers.

At least 68 graduates from St. Jude school, one of the high profile and donor funded learning institutions here, on Monday began a year of service and started teaching at various government owned schools.

“The majority of them are teaching science and mathematics, key subjects urgently needed for a prosperous future for Tanzania,” the School’s founded Ms Gemma Sisia told The Citizen yesterday.

Lotoishe is a young man who has already overcome significant barriers in his life, and who is now well on the way to a future of his own making. 

He and his family live in a village named Mwandeti, around a two hour drive from Smith Secondary Campus, where he began his A-Level studies in July. “I heard about the school through my government school headmaster. On the day of my interview for St Jude’s, I started my journey at five o’clock in the morning. I had to walk for two hours to get to a bus station,” Lotoishe said. 

“Two of us from my previous school did the interview at St Jude’s, and I was lucky enough to be selected. The day I was selected, I was so happy.” 

Lotoishe, the eldest of five children, was a top-scoring student at his local government school and dreams of becoming an Engineer, and of improving life for his family.

“When I got to St Jude’s I was surprised to find a lot of teachers. There are many good science teachers, but at my previous secondary school, there were barely any teachers.” 

Usa River, where Smith Secondary Campus is located, may seem far from home for Lotoishe, but he’s now closer than ever to reaching his dream. 

More than 15 relatives share small mud huts in Lotoishe’s boma — the traditional name for a Maasai dwelling — and their first-spoken language is Maa, the native tongue of the Maasai. 

A narrow, unsealed road wedged into a large valley connects Lotoishe and his fellow Maasai community to urban Arusha. His mother, Nanare, walks for three hours uphill to fetch water at a communal tap. 

“Our life is very difficult because we do not have enough money. I must walk very far to get to food and water, so my children eat food once a day,” Nanare explained. 

“I spend every day doing chores for the family, fetching supplies, cleaning, looking after the young children. It is a hard life but I love my family.” 

“Because we are Maasai, wealth is measured by how many animals we have. We only have two cows, we sold the rest to afford Lotoishe’s government school expenses.” 

“I know my son will do well and he can make a good living one day. Education will help him get there and we know he can help us all to do better. We are so proud.” she said. 

Lotoishe is one of 32 Form 5 students at St Jude’s whose academic scholarship is currently unsponsored. You can help to change his life, sign up to sponsor today!

*Quotes translated from Kiswahili and Maasai* 

Ever wondered what it’s like behind the scenes at our Student Selection Days?

The opportunity to attend The School of St Jude is a highly competitive process. Scholarships are only offered to applicants who demonstrate academic excellence, and come from backgrounds of severe economic hardship.

The student selection process, led by our Community Relations team, and overseen by team manager, Charlotte, takes months of organisation and logistical planning.It involves over a hundred staff members, from guards, gardeners and bus drivers, to academic and administration teams, sacrificing Saturdays during selection periods to help on Student Selection Day and, in following weeks, poverty assessments inside hopeful students’ homes.

Student selection season for secondary students takes place between April and July, with primary students selected between August and October.

Standard 1 and 2 students, aged between 6 and 8, are our youngest recipients of a free, high quality education, and their selection process attracts the largest number of scholarship applicants.

Philomena has worked in St Jude’s Community Relations team since 2010 and has since played a vital role in selecting many of our students.

“Weeks before Student Selection Day, our team visits government schools within Arusha to deliver invitation letters to students who score in the top 10% of their government school Preparatory and Standard 1 classes. It is a huge activity.”

Academic testing begins at 8.30am on selection days and usually runs until 5pm. However, many students and their parents start lining up outside the Sisia Primary Campus gates from 6am.

For secondary scholarship applicants vying for positions in Form 1 (Grade 8) and Form 5 (Grade 11), the journey to Student Selection Day is much longer and more arduous… and not just in travel time!

Form 1 applicants are invited from within the Arusha region, whereas Form 5 scholarships are offered to top-scoring secondary students from government schools in surrounding regions, as well as the Arusha region.

Successful Form 5 applicants will have received only a government school education for a decade, and many travel for more than a day via public transport to be at St Jude’s to sit their academic test.

Their resilience and potential for success is already proven; advancing from primary school to secondary school in Tanzania is uncommon. Additionally, with 4,614 O Level (Form 1-Form 4) schools, and only 540 A Level (Form 5-Form 6) schools in Tanzania, advancing from Form 4 to Form 5 is highly improbable for the majority of students.

St Jude’s Form 1 and Form 5 scholarships provide a pathway for young, disadvantaged Tanzanians who have already demonstrated their academic skills, to progress beyond their means and their imagination.

Students who successfully pass St Jude’s challenging academic test and document checks on selection days are visited in their homes at a later date by poverty assessment teams, comprised of academic, business and facilities staff, as well as Parent Committee members.

It may take between 12 and 16 hours per day for poverty assessment teams to interview six Form 5 applicants, due to the long distances the teams have to travel.

Poverty assessments are always challenging, regardless of whether the applicants’ families are based locally or far away. Assessment teams encounter additional challenges, though, when travelling long distances to interview prospective Form 5 students in their homes.

Our bus fleet scales roads along the steep outskirts of Mount Kilimanjaro, traverses rocky terrain in remote tribal villages and, sometimes, get stuck in thick mud. Weather occasionally prevents our buses from reaching students’ homes on the first attempt, particularly during Form 5 student selection.

“In my first week at St Jude’s I found myself on a school bus, trundling around the Kilimanjaro region participating in Form 5 poverty assessments. The rain was so heavy that our bus struggled to drive uphill on long, muddy roads. We became bogged and eventually had no choice but to make our way back to a main road. Unfortunately we didn’t make it to that student’s house that day, which made me think how hard it must be for her to travel to school.” Supporter Relations Officer, Eithne, explained.

Travelling to remote areas enables us to expand the fight against poverty, and to reach some of the students in greatest need of an education.

Our Form 5 entrants consistently rank among top-scoring Form 6 graduates. Some of them, like Gift, have completed a Community Service Year and now study in leading universities in Tanzania or abroad, having attained scholarships through Beyond St Jude’s and the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program at African Leadership Academy.

A bright future is just a few short years away for students who join St Jude’s in Form 5. Consider giving them a step up and sponsor an academic scholarship for one of these remarkable young adults!

Laura joined St Jude’s as our new Rotary Specialist in March, guiding the School’s EarlyAct, Interact and Rotaract clubs, which were founded by former Rotary Specialist, Sebastian, in 2016. 

Already, Laura has made her mark on our school and community. Almost as soon as she stepped off the plane, she literally landed herself in the mud – planting fruit trees at a local community school with the Rotaract Club of St Jude’s, just two days after her arrival in Tanzania.

The tree-planting initiative is inspired by Rotary District 9211’s Mission Green, which promotes environmental awareness and sustainability. 

“Everyone involved with St Jude’s Rotary programs is passionate about the environment and they see the value in taking care of their home. Mission Green is an avenue for them to act on that passion. They care about waste management and Rotary is the vehicle they use to realise that passion. It’s a synergy,” Laura said. 

The synergy between St Jude’s and Rotary has brought the School’s vision to life, and through the efforts of young leaders like Laura and Sebastian, it continues to grow. 

Laura has embraced her role at St Jude’s with sheer determination, embarking on the exciting challenge of nurturing community relationships that were initiated by Sebastian. 

Sebastian has returned to Tanzania for two months to reconnect with his friends at St Jude’s and within Rotary. 

“I’m really happy to be back here and to see the amazing work Laura has already done to ensure Rotary’s sustainability at St Jude’s. There so much room for expansion and I know she’s the right person to lead the way,” Sebastian said. 

Laura is equally grateful for the opportunity to learn from the man himself! 

“Having Seb here for a month has given me the chance to ask important questions and learn more about the relationship between Rotary and St Jude’s. You really need that foundational understanding,” she said. 

“Seb has taught me a lot about persistence. He simply walked around any brick wall he encountered during his time here as Rotary Specialist, and found a different solution. It’s been very encouraging,” Laura added. 

Reflecting on his time as Rotary Specialist, Sebastian recalls an achievement that sets a high standard for projects to come. 

“In January, I nominated the Rotaract Club of St Jude’s Vijana Poa (Youth is Cool in Swahili) youth employment program in the 2018 Rotaract Outstanding Project Awards. To our club’s amazement, we won for the Sub-Saharan Africa region!” Sebastian explained. 

“Coming back to Tanzania and seeing the progress of Vijana Poa participants has been a highlight. One participant, Carlos, started 2017 unemployed. We helped him secure an internship and by the end of the year, he was awarded Customer Service Assistant of the Year for the organisation.” 

“Seb and I are both looking with anticipation towards the future. There is always more to be done. Rotary is a way for St Jude’s students to develop leadership and networking skills, and it complements what they are already taught in class about citizenship and society. We hope that Rotarians and Rotaractors from around the world will come to Arusha and see how our clubs are making a difference!” Laura said. 

Spread the word about St Jude’s at your local Rotary or Rotaract club, and encourage them to visit us!

In the early hours of a blustery Thursday morning, flash flooding at Usa River, the site of St Jude’s Smith Secondary Campus, swept away huge parts of the School’s main boundary walls. 

Standing 2.7 metres high, the wall crumbled in two large sections beneath the weight of recent heavy rains. The total length of wall damage is 250 metres — the length of a football field, and then some — and will cost almost AU$49,000 to repair.

The School of St Jude Facilities Manager, Laurian, is overseeing the repairs and explained the toll it has taken on our school community, infrastructure and budget. 

“When the askari (guards) heard the wall collapsing before the sun rose, they immediately contacted the Smith Secondary Campus leadership to inform them.”

“It was clear we would need to employ more askari to patrol the destroyed sections of the boundary wall. We employed six new guards — three for during the day and three overnight,” Laurian said. 

In addition to six new guards, it will take 18 local construction workers almost two months to restore the wall to tip-top condition. 

“To prevent this from happening again, we are increasing the depth of the passages which allow water to flow under the wall from 60 centimetres to 90 centimetres. The problem with flash flooding is that the water quickly blocks the passages. The weather we have had in Arusha this year has been unusual and unpredictable,” Laurian remarked. 

“It is difficult to explain this year’s weather scenario,” Laurian said. 

“We are putting in place more preventative measures so we are best prepared if this happens again. The emergency response from everyone on the ground, from the askari, to the maintenance team and the workers, was impressive under the circumstances,” he added. 

“We face unique challenges as a school and not-for-profit organisation based in Africa. Unpredictable events like this occasionally crop up and cause us to reconsider strategies and goals. On top of that, it means, from time to time, we must call upon our friends around the world for some extra support,” Gemma said. 

Day by day, our wall is being restored to its original condition, but we still need all hands on deck!  Will you give us a hand? Your money will be doubled, thanks to our Appeal match. Donate today to our Area of Greatest Need.