When Gemma Sisia witnessed the overwhelming number of Tanzanian children living in poverty and missing out on a good education back in 2002, she set out to build The School of St Jude.
The Australian-born educator started the school with three students and one teacher, and now provides a free, high quality education to more than 1800 students.
Each year, the school accepts 150 new students based on their academic potential and genuine financial need, giving the gift of education to these students to equip them with the skills and confidence to become future leaders in their communities and break out of the cycle of poverty.
Given the school does not receive any financial support from the Tanzanian Government, it relies on the generosity of the global community.
For a long time, Methodist Ladies College (MLC) in Melbourne have been fundraising for the school and raised thousands of dollars each year which helps them to buy vital resources and equipment for their classrooms.
Malcolm Davis from MLC says the school was so impressed with Sisia's work that they initially decided to commit some funds and support their teachers. They now run a study tour to the Tanzanian school each year and the girls involved in the tour spend the year raising funds to take along with them.
Australians from volunteering program The School of St Jude are in Tanzania providing education to underprivileged children to help break the poverty cycle.
Founded by Melbourne resident Gemma Sisia, St Jude’s started with only three students in 2002 and now provides education to more than 1800 children.
Ms Sisia was inspired to create the program when, while volunteering in Africa, she realised education was the key to tackling poverty in these countries.
As the quality of education takes front seat in the international debate about development, and with teacher qualification ranking high in the list of priorities, the Gordon V. and Helen C. Smith Foundation points to the importance of studying success stories that could help create a list of best practices in the field. UNESCO’s 2014 EFA Global Monitoring Report emphasizes teacher training as one major area for improvement, stating that “education quality improves when teachers are supported.”
A Brisbane man has turned his back on a promising career in finance and fat bank balances.
Nathan Taiaroa, 26, farewelled corporate Australia, put his career on hold and travelled 12,000 kilometres to volunteer at one of Africa's largest non-profit schools, The School of St Jude in Tanzania.
This is part of Ethical Jobs' blog posts, which go behind the scenes to meet some of the people and organisations who are finding each other through Ethical Jobs.
Today's story is from Matt Chard who found his Volunteer Grant Writer role with The School of St Jude, Tanzania, after seeing the ad on the Ethical Jobs website.
Gemma Sisia joins RN Breakfast to discuss the school she established in Tanzania over a decade ago.
Beginning with just 12 pupils it now has 1,800 and is mostly funded by the donations of 4,000 Australians.
But now the school has been granted 'charity status' meaning it can greatly expand its operations.
Listen to RN's Breakfast Presenter Fran Kelly's interview with Gemma
