Is there such a thing as too many celebrations? We don’t think so!
October has been a month of celebrations here at St Jude’s. Each weekend has included an exciting event, commencing with Cultural Day at St Jude’s Secondary School, followed by Form 4 Farewells for our Form 4 boys and girls and concluding with the Alumni Reunion.
Tanzania is home to more than 100 tribes, 69 of which are represented in the St Jude’s student body. Each of these tribes has its own songs, dances, foods and fashions, which makes Cultural Day a diverse celebration.
This year, as always, St Jude’s Secondary School’s Cultural Day was a colourful event. Students performed traditional dances, sang songs in Kiswahili, and modelled their own handmade fashions in the hopes of being crowned the winners of their section.
Tumaini, in Form 6, presented a selection of original outfits for the design section. “I have always been a designer,” she explains. “When I was a kid I’d spend time with tailors in my village making ragdolls and outfits for those dolls. My fashion designs carry a message, this year my collection was based on preventive measures against COVID-19. I spent my time creating designs that could attract people but still raise awareness of the preventive measures against COVID-19,” Tumaini reflected.
In the audience were students, community members, staff and invited guests from a local cultural centre. Although Cultural Day is a lot of fun, it is also a competition, and the students were all hoping to win. In the end, the Bugana Group were crowned winners of the poetry section, Graacious Group won both the dance and choir sections and Swahili Fashion, Tumaini’s fashion line, won the design section. All winners received an enthusiastic round of applause!
The high-energy event finished with a delicious lunch, including many different cultural specialties.
The ninth of October was a very special day at St Jude’s Secondary School; the Form 4 Farewell. In Tanzania, Form 4 is the fourth year of secondary school and marks the end of O Level studies.
The average education level of St Jude’s students’ mothers is Standard 7, the final year of primary school and for students’ fathers, the average education level is Form 2, the second year of secondary school. So, graduation from Form 4 is a huge milestone for St Jude’s students!
For Ally, one of the 66 graduating students, the day was made even more special by the presence of an American visitor, Laurel. Laurel and her husband, Jeff, have sponsored Ally’s academic scholarship since 2018 and visited the school in the same year. In addition to being a sponsor, Laurel also sits on the American Friends of St Jude’s Board, where she works to increase knowledge of St Jude’s among Rotary clubs in the US.
When Laurel heard that Ally’s Form 4 Farewell was approaching, she organised a group of friends; Marcia, Adrienne, Sally and Sandra – all members of the Cultural Arts Rotary Club of Fresno, California– to travel to Tanzania to cheer Ally. The Rotary club are committed St Jude’s supporters and even sponsor the scholarship of a St Jude’s student. Back in 2014, Laurel was the incoming President of her Rotary club, and attended the Rotary International Convention in Sydney, where she heard Gemma speak about the school.
“The ladies who are here with me today remember me coming back to our club and saying, ‘We have to get involved with The School of St Jude’ – I went on and on! So that’s how our club got involved. I sponsored a scholarship for a student, Ally, and then our club started to sponsor a scholarship for another student. When I decided to visit St Jude’s again this year, all I had to do was say, ‘I’m going’ and then everyone wanted to come too.”
At the event, the visitors were not just audience members, in fact, they helped out by handing the students their certificates on stage. It was a very special moment when Laurel handed Ally his Form 4 graduation certificate.
“That was the highlight of my whole trip,” says Laurel. “I had no idea I would be handing out certificates, but seeing Ally walk across that stage was certainly the highlight. I’m just so proud of him.”
Since the opening of St Jude’s Girls’ Secondary School in 2020, St Jude’s has enjoyed celebrating not one, but two Form 4 Farewells each year. While both Form 4 Farewells celebrate the same milestone, the individual schools bring their own spirit to the event.
On the morning of the girls’ Form 4 Farewell, parents, students and special guests arrived at St Jude’s under grey skies, but as the joyful ceremony progressed the sun began to shine to complement the celebrations. The whole audience enjoyed listening to inspiring speeches by students and special guests and each of the 115 students received a certificate to commemorate her completion of O Level studies.
Perhaps the most moving moment of the ceremony was a special song written and performed by the graduating class.
Today is the day
When we celebrate
By holding eachother once again
Today is the day
When we celebrate
By sharing love and joy to everyone
As these lyrics rang out across the school, it was a poignant reminder of what these students have achieved so far and their achievements yet to come.
St Jude’s students spend up to 13 years learning, living and growing together with their classmates. These are strong connections, but after secondary school, graduates must make their way to universities and colleges right across Tanzania, Africa and the world, to continue their learning journeys.
The annual Alumni Reunion is an opportunity for St Jude’s 800+ alumni who graduated from 2015 to 2021 to reconnect with eachother and share their knowledge with St Jude’s students.
The Alumni team organised for alumni to share their experience of university and employment with senior students. Keynote speakers, including Thomas, a recently graduated Occupational Therapist, and Vedasto, a graduate in the conservation and wildlife management sector, shared their stories of finding their passions and forging a path for themselves through study. Then students split into groups for Q and A sessions about their areas of interest.
In the afternoon, it was time for sports! Alumni and students went head to head in games of football and basketball, both of which were narrowly won by the student teams.
In the evening, alumni enjoyed the main event of the weekend – a special dinner, alumni awards and dancing. Old friendships were reignited and new friendships were formed between alumni from different graduating years.
Founder, Gemma Sisia, made the opening speech, during which she reminded alumni to maintain the bonds of friendship they formed at school.
“I still visit my old school every year when I’m in Sydney,” she told the assembled alumni. “Don’t forget to keep up with your classmates as you never know how you can help eachother.” The daily work of fighting poverty through education keeps the St Jude’s community busy, but there is always something to celebrate at St Jude’s, from big events like graduations, to smaller milestones, like a Standard 1 student learning a new word. This month, the whole community appreciated the opportunity to pause, celebrate and reflect on recent achievements.
“Ooooh look it’s a troop of baboons!” Theresia, a Form 2 student, shouts with excitement.
Theresia and her fellow members of the girls’ school Student Government, accompanied by teachers, set off early for an exciting adventure – an excursion to Lake Manyara National Park!
Driving through a dense, evergreen forest of the national park that is situated between the Arusha and Manyara regions in Northern Tanzania, students were thrilled to spot wild animals: zebras, antelopes, wildebeest, elephants, giraffes, monkeys and baboons.
As a reward for their outstanding leadership performance, the excursion aimed to enable students to understand, learn from, and examine the natural world.
“The reason we planned this trip is to first show appreciation for their time spent as leaders in the school government body and second, to motivate and empower the students with leadership skills,” explains Ms Judith, St Jude’s Girls’ Secondary School Deputy Headmaster – Operations.
The outgoing Students’ Government at the girls’ secondary school retired from their duties early this month, paving the way for the new government to be sworn in soon.
The Student Government is elected by fellow students each year. Candidates from different year levels who would like to be part of the government collect and fill forms.
Once the forms are returned, the names are sorted and put into different posts that the candidates are contesting for. Thereafter candidates get interviewed by teachers and other reigning government leaders before they start seeking votes from their peers.
With complete transparency, elections are highly supervised by teachers and other incumbent student leaders. Students are given forms that they cast in a ballot to vote for their favourite candidates in situated poll stations. The votes are later collected from the poll stations and submitted to the election committee counting and announcing the winners.
The student government body at St Jude’s is run entirely by students. They represent students’ voices, follow up on students’ welfare and discipline as well as the students’ academic progress.
“The Student Government is a bridge between students and teachers. We want to show this group that we value their contribution. We also expect them to become great ambassadors and mentors to the incoming student government,” Ms Judith adds.
“We chose Lake Manyara National Park because of its unique features and the abundance of animals that live in groups like elephants, baboons and antelope families. I believe through animal behaviour, the students will gain inspiration, and I hope they’ll use this time to reflect on their leadership skills,” says Ms Judith.
The Student Government comprises of members from different year levels led by a head girl, a head boy, and a general secretary. The remainder of the members, called prefects, oversee other disciplines such as academics, discipline, security, and safety.
Theresia, who served as a security prefect in the Student Government, was wide-eyed with anticipation during the excursion.
“What I learnt from this motivational trip is animal families, behaviour and their heirarchical roles. As a security prefect I had so many questions about how animals defend themselves and it was interesting to know how each animal family has its own way of defending,” Theresia shares.
The students were surprised to learn that baboons have different hierarchies within their troops, and its members are highly coordinated, whether it be for feeding, mating, or grooming.
“I enjoyed learning about baboons and how they behave. I was so intrigued when the tour guide was talking about how social these animals are and how they work together to look for food and protect each other,” says Mwasiti, one of Theresia’s Student Government peers.
“This trip has taught me that through animals we can learn a lot. For example, a big lesson I got is from zebras. These animals stand side-by-side but face opposite directions, one resting its chin on the back of the other, an act that allows them to groom each other while keeping an eye out for predators. To me this shows cooperation and I believe this is an important skill if you want to be a good leader,” Mwasiti reflects.
Leadership is one among many skills that St Jude’s instils into the students, which will help them lead their families and communities with respect, responsibility, honesty and kindness and become future leaders of Tanzania.
The School of St Jude is coming to you! Meet Gemma and some of our amazing graduates at your school, church, Rotary Club… or even in your very own living room.
St Jude’s is bringing Tanzania to you this year with The St Jude’s Special. On Thursday, 29 April at 9 am AEST, you’ll be able to view an exciting and inspirational show, which will be live for just 96 hours.
Usually, at this time of year, Founder, Gemma Sisia, along with a St Jude’s graduate ambassador, would be making their way around Australia to connect with supporters and share the news about St Jude’s. This year, Gemma, two extraordinary graduates, Ester and Victor, and some of our previous ambassadors will be making their way to your screens, wherever in the world, you are.
Ester and Victor will be telling their stories in their own words, and while they tell them best, we’d like to introduce them to you today!
Both Ester and Victor are St Jude’s Form 6 graduates from the Class of 2020, and commenced at St Jude’s in primary school. They’re excited to connect with the supporters who have made their education possible and continue to support them as they embark on their lives after school.
Victor and Ester are now midway through their Community Service Year (CSY) during which they are volunteering as teachers in local government schools. The CSY is part of the Beyond St Jude’s (BSJ) Program, where participants spend one year giving back to the community before commencing further studies. Victor explains, “I am in a government school voluntarily teaching physics to Form 2 and Form 3. There are about 40 to 60 students in a class… two to three times as many as at St Jude’s.”
Ester is also teaching in a government school, where she teaches Civics to Form 1 students, about 300 in total. She’s been looking forward to her CSY for a long time and loves that she can make a difference in her community.
“My brother and sister graduated from this school. There are good students here, but they lack resources… I wish sometimes I could have another year here!”
While the show doesn’t require air travel or changing time zones like the usual tour, it will still put the graduates’ public speaking skills to the test as they share their stories with you, our international supporters.
“At first, I was very nervous about it,” says Victor, “But then I remembered that I am a teacher and I am always speaking to students. So I imagine that everyone watching is a student and then I can do it.”
Ester too is ready to speak to St Jude’s supporters from around the world. But she wasn’t always so confident. “My family were surprised when I told them about this. My mum was like, ‘Are you going to be able to do this? You’re very shy,’” she laughs, before continuing.
“I want to say to people; St Jude’s taught me how to live, how to be confident. I want to say to supporters; don’t stop what you’re doing, even though you’re far away. You are changing the lives of thousands of people here in Tanzania.”
You’ll love meeting Ester and Victor and hearing their stories.
There’ll be some familiar faces at The St Jude’s Special too. When you join the event, you’ll get to reconnect with 2020 Ambassador, Judith, 2019 Ambassador, Godwin, 2017 Ambassador, Winrose and 2016 Ambassador, Dorice. For those of you who met these ambassadors on previous tours, there’s a lot of exciting news to catch up on!
Victor and Ester will lead an engaging conversation with each of the past graduates so you can get to know them even better – and they already have their questions prepared!
“I’m really excited to see them,” exclaims Victor. “I have lots of questions, like what are their experiences of moving to another country to study?”
Of course, the show is your chance to hear from Gemma about how St Jude’s began and the school’s progress over the last 12 months. A passionate presenter with an inspiring story to tell, Gemma loves to speak about St Jude’s, and new and returning supporters will be captivated.
If you can have gatherings where you live, why not make an event of it? If events aren’t possible (or a cosy night on the couch sounds more appealing) you can easily watch at home. However you choose to view The St Jude’s Special, one thing is certain; you don’t want to miss it!
If you’d like to catch up with Gemma, Ester, Victor and St Jude’s ambassadors from past years, be sure to sign up at the link below. The link will be available for 96 hours, from Thursday 29 April at 9 am AEST to Monday 3 May at 9 am AEST. Or, if you’re in the US the link will be available from Wednesday 28 April at 3 pm PDT to Sunday 2 May at 10 pm PDT.
This morning, you can sense the nerves and excitement as hundreds of government school students arrive and take their place in long lines of their peers. Some, who live very far away, even arrived yesterday evening, and spent the night at St Jude’s Boarding Campus.
They came by bus, motorbike and even on foot; some travelled for up to 12 hours from Arusha, Manyara and Kilimanjaro regions. They all made the journey for one reason; to sit our academic examinations in the hope of receiving an A Level secondary academic scholarship to St Jude’s.
In Tanzania, there are only around 600 A Level secondary schools compared to over 17,000 primary schools, so places are highly sought after. In particular, the competition for St Jude’s scholarships is strong, as they give students a chance to receive a quality education, completely free of charge. Our selection process, based on academic results, poverty and school values allows us to identify the brightest, poorest students, in line with our mission.
For many of these students, today will be the beginning of an exciting journey. Form 5 is the final St Jude’s entry point; the last stage at which government school students can join the school to receive a free, quality education. In Tanzania, Form 5 is the second last year of secondary school and marks the beginning of Advanced (A Level) studies.
St Jude’s Student Selection Process begins with an invitation to attend a Student Selection Day. Today’s students were invited following an exceptional performance in Tanzania’s Form 4 National Examinations in physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics.
“We take the results from NECTA (Tanzania’s National Exam Authority) for the combinations we want. Then we invite them by writing letters to their headmasters and the students are informed that they are invited to the exams at our school,” explains Happiness.
After their arrival and registration, the students proceed into the school for a fortifying cup of tea and a scone. Then, it’s time for an introduction by Mr Mcharo, Academic Manager, and before the students know it, the exams begin. Today, students are sitting down to three, one-hour exams.
As they finish each exam, it is relayed to an efficient team of teachers who mark it and pass it on to staff who enter each score into a database, then file it under each student’s name. After three hours, the students hear the command, “Pencils down,” and know that the hardest part of the day is over.
In the midst of all this marking and filing is Happiness… “What we are doing today is filing all the exams, and all the information about each student. Each student writes where they come from, where they go to school, how many kilometres from their home to a bus stop. And all that information and their exams go in one file,” says a busy Happiness.
In a remarkably short time, thanks to the hard work and organisation of staff, like Happiness, the exams are marked and the scores collated. The students who have achieved the required exam mark are notified, and move onto the next stage, when a small army of St Jude’s staff reviews their documents to confirm their age, grades and identity.
Soon, this stage is complete, and approximately 200 students are one step closer to an A Level academic scholarship at St Jude’s. In the coming weeks, St Jude’s staff will visit their homes to assess their living situations. Those who show the greatest need during House Checks will then be offered a scholarship to receive free, quality education at St Jude’s.
This afternoon, as they prepare to return home, the students are tentatively excited. They know the value of a St Jude’s scholarship, and the transformation it could bring to their lives, and that of their families.
While Form 5 is the last point at which a student can enter St Jude’s, it’s an incredibly important entry point. The last two years of secondary education are crucial for students who wish to pursue higher education. At the same time, as students grow older, the pressure to leave school and work to help support their families increases. An A Level scholarship to St Jude’s can help break this cycle and allow students to finish their secondary education. Following this, the opportunities only increase; many St Jude’s Form 6 graduates proceed to higher education with the support of the Beyond St Jude’s Program.
Form 5 Student Selection Day for 2021 has been busy for staff and prospective students alike, but it’s another important step in St Jude’s journey in fighting poverty through education.
Laughs, smiles and chatter filled the Dining Hall at St Jude’s Girls’ Secondary School on October 10, 2020. St Jude’s farewelled the first class of O Level leavers from our girls’ secondary school. Completing Form 4, the equivalent of completing Grade 10, is an educational milestone for students in Tanzania.
Indeed, being the first girls’ secondary school Form 4 Celebration and Awards Day, it was a major milestone for The School of St Jude. St Jude’s Girls’ Secondary School opened in January 2020, enriching our whole school community and enabling free, high quality education for even more Tanzanian females.
Among the grinning girls was Agness, who was thrilled to have reached this important stage of her educational journey.
“Today I’m hoping to win a few awards in Biology and also receive a Leader’s Certificate.” Agness smiled.
“After my O Level exams, I’ll use my time to volunteer. Teaching is my passion and I would like to come back and help to teach my young peers. I would like to help them with chemistry and biology.”
“Being selected at St Jude’s has been a blessing and my experience here has been amazing. I got to meet and be friends with a lot of other students. I was exposed to a lot of things such as activities and I went up the student rank and became a level coordinator for the Form 4 students,” Agness shared.
Agness’ mother was ecstatic about her daughter’s completion of Form 4. “I’m so happy... My wish for my daughter is one day for her to become a great leader.”
Also beaming with pride was Mr Elimringi, Headmaster for St Jude’s Girls’ Secondary School. “Today I’m so glad. It’s been a long journey to reach this day and we’ve been anticipating and dreaming about this since the school opened. The celebration is important, but we also expect and encourage our students to perform very well in their upcoming national examinations,” he said.
“Our job is to make sure we are raising our girls so that we can have very strong women leaders in this country and raise the number of students that are going to focus on science subjects.”
“We want our female students to healthily compete with male students. I would also like to help the community understand that St Jude’s gives opportunities to all students regardless of individual differences,” Elimringi reassured.
So, what’s next for our Form 4 students? Soon, they’ll sit exams. National examinations take place annually with strict supervision from the Tanzania National Board of Examinations under the Ministry of Education. These exams can determine whether a student is eligible to proceed to their next level of education; students sit these exams in Standard 4, Standard 7, Form 2, Form 4 and Form 6.
Margaret, grandmother to Hilda, one of our exceptional Form 4s, excitedly recalled Hilda’s Student Selection process – it’s still a raw memory, even though more than 10 years have passed!
“I remember the first Selection day, it was tough but I was hopeful that Hilda would get an opportunity to study at St Jude’s… but this is only the first step, she still has a long journey ahead of her.”
Hilda has chosen to study business subjects. She’s looking forward to a bright future, helping to improve her community during her study break after exams.
“I’m so excited and feeling fantastic. I will be spending my time volunteering. I would like to teach. But I will also try and get a job so I can support my family during this time,” Hilda said.
Form 4 Celebration and Awards Day is a huge step forward for our students. Completing Form 4 means they are closer to realising their dreams. For their parents and guardians, most of whom didn’t have the chance to attend secondary school, this is a major step in fighting poverty through education.
Our Form 4 male students at Smith Campus will be having their Celebration and Awards Day on November 7 this year.
What would you do to challenge yourself for The School of St Jude?
The school launched the ‘Challenge Yourself for St Jude’s’ campaign in early October, encouraging individuals, families, schools, universities, clubs and different organisations to take on a challenge. The aim is to fundraise for St Jude’s and help the school continue to educate and light the way to a brighter future for underprivileged, bright students in Tanzania.
‘Challenge Yourself for St Jude’s’ is about ordinary people doing extraordinary things and fighting poverty through education. Keep reading to see how our whole community has risen to the challenge…
Alumni showing support
One of our amazing alumni, David (Class of 2019), challenged himself to a 42.2km bicycle ride from Sisia Campus to Smith Campus on October 18!
“I got free, quality education from St Jude's and I would love to see many other students receiving the same education that will change their lives. This is the main reason I am taking the challenge for St Jude's. I want to raise as much money as possible for the school.”
David hopes his challenge will inspire other students and St Jude’s alumni to support the school and help the school to continue fighting poverty through education.
You can donate to David’s challenge or register your personal challenge via the school’s website; https://www.schoolofstjude.org/challenge/
Students reading to raise funds
St Jude’s students have committed to read to challenge themselves for St Jude’s. Through the read-a-thon challenge, students aim to read 10 books by the end of the year, inspiring you, our family of international supporters to donate AU$10 per book to their challenge!
Support the read-a-thon challenge by registering or donating to the power of 10 today:
http://bit.ly/SoSJ-CY
Staff individual challenges
St Jude’s staff from different departments took on a variety of quirky challenges to support the cause.
The Sponsor Relations team involved others by providing spoons to all our business office staff. In a challenge called ‘Spoon Your Table’, staff could donate AU$1 for every spoon.
Irene, a member of the Supporter Relations team registered her challenge as an individual. She and her colleague, Rosemary, washed sports shoes for staff to help raise funds for the school. For every pair of shoes washed, AU$1 was raised for St Jude’s.
Anyone can create their own special, unique ‘Challenge Yourself for St Jude’s’ activity, big or small and inspire others to be part of the campaign.
Supporters across the globe have joined the challenge!
Noela, a St Jude’s long-term supporter, challenged herself to a 10km walk. Through her walk, she’s raised AU$2,000 so far.
“The real challenge is rising with an alarm at 4:45am to walk before the Brisbane heat kicks in,” Noela said.
Noela plans to walk daily to continue to raise funds and support the challenge - wearing a St Jude’s sticker attached at her shirt especially made for the cause!
“The St Jude’s sticker attached to my shirt by what I call a, ‘puppy dog’ clip, all adds to the experience!”
Also participating in Challenge Week is Rebecca, a supporter from Sydney, Australia. She has challenged herself to raise funds for St Jude’s by running a marathon that was broken up over 7 days. She’s run 18km so far.
You too can participate in a personal challenge like Noela and Rebecca to Challenge Yourself for St Jude’s. Donate today or register here to Challenge Yourself for St Jude’s: http://bit.ly/SoSJ-CY
Family Trivia
Charity begins at home and to kick off Challenge Week, St Jude’s staff leaders and their families participated in a fun and games afternoon bringing together diverse staff and their families to raise money for the school. There were tough trivia questions, and there was also an Uno tournament and a limbo competition.
Why not host your own trivia event by purchasing a trivia pack from our website or host a games day with family and friends, charging everyone AU$10 to participate? You can make your event COVID-safe by hosting a virtual trivia event.
