“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.

At St Jude’s Primary School, social studies is a favourite subject for many students. With a teacher like Mr Ombeni, it’s easy to see why!

“There are so many reasons social studies is important for younger students. For a start, in primary school, we are building the foundations for their future education,” explains Mr Ombeni.

Mr Ombeni was recently promoted to Head of Social Studies after five years of showcasing hard work, dedication and passion and oversees five teachers in his department.

Explaining what social studies entails, Mr Ombeni says, “social studies combines history and geography to educate students about the world in a holistic way. It is taught to all pupils from Standard 3 to Standard 7 for three lessons each week.”

“I teach Standard 4 and Standard 7 social studies, which are both national examination years, so a key part of my job is preparing students to sit and succeed in their national examinations,” he adds.

Keenly explaining to students, Mr Ombeni believes wholeheartedly in the importance of social studies and knows that a social aware student can make a real impact.

“For example today’s lesson is about longitude and latitude. I’m teaching the class on how Earth’s 360 degree rotation corresponds to a 24 hour day. This lesson falls under one of the four key topics of social studies.” Mr Ombeni says.

Mr Ombeni’s favourite topic to teach involves Tanzanian culture and history.

“It’s about promoting Tanzanian culture, building good cooperation in the community, and also honouring our heroes… people like the late Julius Nyerere, the founding father of our nation and the late Bibi Titi Mohammed, who helped bring independence to Tanzania. As you know, the mission of our school is to educate future Tanzanian leaders, so when the students learn about those leaders, they become excited. You can see it in their faces… it gives motivation and inspiration to the students,” smiles Mr Ombeni.

Mr Ombeni financially supports his mother and father with different needs and also supports his sister who is about to sit for her Form 6 National Examinations with school needs. He enjoys interacting and assisting students with their lessons whenever they need him to.

“I like working at St Jude’s because it’s a unique non-profit organisation that helps my fellow Tanzanians to achieve their goals and become future Tanzanian leaders,” Mr Ombeni states.

“St Jude’s has also given me the opportunity to interact with many people with diverse knowledge, skills and ideas. I get great joy interacting with the students and knowing that I’m making a difference in a student’s life,” he adds.

It’s easy to see that the students are enjoying the lesson, listening intently to Mr Ombeni as he explains how Earth’s 360 degree rotation corresponds to a 24 hour day. They raise their hands eagerly when Mr Ombeni asks a question and confidently write their answers on the board.

One such student is Rosemary, in Standard 7. Rosemary is an enthusiastic social studies student.

“My favourite part of social studies is learning about the environment and how to take care of it,” says Rosemary.

“Mr Ombeni is a great teacher, whenever I have any questions, I can ask him and he helps me to understand more.”

With a strong foundation in social studies, students, like Rosemary, will move into secondary school ready for more advanced studies in history and geography, thanks to the passion and guidance of Mr Ombeni.

As he reminds us, a key part of the St Jude’s vision is an educated community of moral and intellectual leaders. With strong knowledge of their country, its history and geography, and the exceptional Tanzanian leaders of the past, St Jude’s students have the perfect foundation to fulfil this bold vision.

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.

Tatu, a caring and loving student in her final year of secondary school at Smith Campus, felt compelled to help the newly enrolled students with their transition into secondary school at St Jude’s. With hopes to provide the warmest welcome to these new students, Tatu wrote a Student Mentorship Program proposal and presented it to her teacher.

“Initially, a few students got together and started helping and mentoring all the new students coming into the campus. However, this year I took it upon myself to write and present this mentorship program to make it official and recognised by the school administration,” Tatu explains.

The Student Mentorship Program provides an easy transition and academic support for newly enrolled Form 1 boy students at Smith Campus. Part of the program is to assist in teaching English to the new students so they can communicate and adapt to an English-medium school with ease.

“I shared and presented the proposal to both the Career Guidance and English Departments. The teachers looked at the proposal and gave me the go ahead to execute the program,” Tatu says.

In the proposal, Tatu suggests that the volunteering students from Form 5 and 6 should, supervise and be responsible for several new Form 1 students.

“This year we have a total of 78 new Form 1 boy students. It’s a big group, so we’ve divided them into several groups. Each volunteer supervises a group of between six and eight students.”

As a leader of the program, Tatu makes sure that all volunteer students are guided and are able to manage the progress of each of the new students within their group.

“I prepare lesson plans. Once the lesson plan is approved by the Language Department, I share the plans with the rest of the students who are assisting with the mentorship. The plans are then distributed to the new students.”

“We use after school hours and the weekends to teach the new students. We also give them different assignments. One of the assignments is to do presentations in front of the class. This is to help them build their confidence and we also get to assess their progress,” she further explains.

Being a Form 6 student, Tatu is looking forward to doing her final exams. But, more importantly she is excited to see how all the new students will perform in six months with written and spoken English after successful completion of the mentorship program.

“As a leader of this program, I go around each group and seek students who perhaps take longer to understand and I have a one-on-one lesson with them. The aim is to make sure that, after the first three months, all these students are competent in English, confident and have settled in.”

Commending Tatu for pioneering the mentorship program is Mr Mollel, Head of Languages Department, after receiving the proposal from her.

“The Form 1 students we select and enrol from government schools hardly speak English. As teachers, we have to make sure they have the command of the language within six months. That’s why, when Tatu brought us this proposal and presented the modality of the program, we accepted it,” Mr Mollel proudly states.

“Students spend most of the time with their fellow students, so it’s easy for senior students to mentor and guide the new ones,” he added.

Explaining the differences between the set academic program and Tatu’s initiative, Mr Mollel says, “The difference between our academic program and the new proposal is that this initiative has taken a social approach, whereby senior students have more time with the new students… after school hours and on weekends.”

The academic department supports the program by providing books, study materials and assisting in creating and approving lesson plans. Mr Mollel believes that the mentorship project will help the new students learn the language, communicate and settle in more quickly.

Daniel who joined Form 1 beginning of this year, is a mentee in the program. He’s committed to speaking English and be able to communicate with his peers with confidence.

“I’m still learning the language. Tatu challenges and pushes me to do better and that makes me eager to want to learn more. I hope to be speaking English well by the end of this program.”

Aside from the language lessons, the program aims to engage and teach the new students school values.

“Tatu has taught me to follow the values of the school… Respect, Responsibility, Honesty and Kindness. Her advice is to always put my head down and study hard so I can achieve my goals,” Daniel said.

St Jude’s is an English-medium school and it’s committed to making sure that students understand and can communicate effectively in the English language by the time they graduate; nurturing well-rounded future leaders of Tanzania.

***Daniel’s quotes were translated from Kiswahili to English.

“I would like to be a neurosurgeon and an entrepreneur when I complete my higher education,” says Sheila, a Form 4 science student at St Jude Girls’ Secondary School.

Arranging desks and getting ready to give her weekly updates to the teacher, who is also a club mentor and her fellow club members, Sheila explains, “I’m the chairperson of the Entrepreneurship Club. My role is to supervise and make sure all activities are completed on time. I believe as an entrepreneur, you have to be responsible. So, part of the responsibility is to complete assignments regardless of which class level you are in.”

Entrepreneurship Club is one of the 10 extra-curricular clubs at St Jude’s. This club, started by students, was specifically created to foster their entrepreneurship spirit and equip them with essential entrepreneurship skills.

Explaining the club’s activities, Sheila says, “The club has different activities. We learn about agriculture, designing things like handbags, clothes and art.”

Sheila, who leads a team of 32 club members, believes the knowledge she’s receiving from being a member of the club has had a huge impact on her ability to be able to recognise gaps around her community that she can later turn into business opportunities.

“I always take these skills back home. During my school breaks, I make and sell cards and decorate bottles that people can use for home decoration items. This venture earns me some money that I then use to help my family,” she adds.

About one third of Tanzania’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) originates from the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector.

“Entrepreneurship Club is a forum where students get to meet, network and share ideas. They also get to practice entrepreneurship skills in real life after learning theoretically in class,” states Mr Ally, Head of Business and ICT.

The club provides a learning-by-doing environment where students learn different business skills, such as the scope of entrepreneurship, developing business plans and advice on creating a start-up. Students also participate in different projects, such as horticulture.

“Last year our project was based on horticulture. The students cultivated kale and we were able to supply the school with more than 100 kilograms of the vegetables,” Mr Ally says proudly.

“With the high rate of unemployment in Tanzania, we equip our students with know-how in business planning, creativity skills, critical thinking and importance of teamwork. I believe this will make our students ready to tackle the world head-on,” he adds.

As a member and a treasurer of the club, Leila, Form 4, has always had a passion for entrepreneurship. She believes that she’s now more enlightened about entrepreneurship than before she joined the club.

“Being an entrepreneur is about passion. If you want to do something you must do it. I try and apply the skills I’m learning from the club when I go home,” Leila said.

She adds, “I have a small piece of land at home that I’m using to grow vegetables. With the harvest I get, I’m now able to sell the vegetables and the remainder is used as food for my family. This has had an impact on my family’s life, as they receive some of the money I make for small errands.”

Leila hopes that one day she’ll be able to establish her law firm and provide employment within her community.

“Every class I attend broadens my mind. I get to know and learn useful real-life skills. I’m confident that once I complete high school, with the skillset I’m getting, I will be able to run my law firm,” she says confidently.

St Jude’s encourages clubs like the Entrepreneurship Club to foster creativity, educate, and improve students’ skills in creating, collaborating and communicating to prepare students to become successful and innovative leaders of Tanzania.

Excursions are a highlight of the school year and an exciting time for students at The School of St Jude as they anticipate a fun visit to a museum, national park, educational or historic site.

Field trips are an important part of the school’s curriculum, encouraging experiential learning and allowing students to better understand theoretical concepts.

Mr Sangito, who oversees excursions at the girls’ secondary school, believes field trips are important in students’ learning.

“Excursions help students in practical learning, meaning the things they are learning theoretically in class, they get to experience that first-hand by visiting different sites,” says Mr Sangito.

Mr Sangito, who also oversees three subjects; history, geography and civics, explains that for a class studying history, a trip to a historical site or a museum can expose the students to incredible archives and antiquities they would otherwise only view in a page of a book.

“For example, if it’s history, then we take students to historical sites to go see and read historical facts, see what happened and explore the archives. If its geography then we take the students to see landscapes such as rivers, lakes…”

Mr Sangito explains how excursions are planned. “We have fixed sites for every level. For example, this year we are starting with the candidate students, these are Form 2 and Form 4. Because of their tight schedules and they are expected to do their National Examinations end of this year, they’ll be going on a field trip first. Then later we’ll finish the excursion cycle with Form 1 and Form 3.”

“We have a total of four trips a year so that every level can go to at least one excursion. However, based on department needs, other trips can be arranged. For example, school clubs can request for a field trip and a responsible department can look at the request and organise a trip,” he adds.

Before students embark on any excursion, a lesson is arranged so students understand the purpose of the experience and are also prepared for the trip.

“One day before the trip, we provide students with questionnaires and guide them on questions they should ask during the trip. When they come back they are then supposed to fill in the questionnaires and write a field report,” Mr Sangito explains.

He adds, “Excursions reveal the world to the students. It motivates their career and career choices. You just never know what they’ll be interested in once they visit a heritage site or factory.”

Still excited from her excursion and new knowledge, Juliana, a Form 2 student shares her field trip experience.

“We went to the Olduvai Gorge. I had an amazing time,” she says.

She adds, “I learnt the actual pronunciation of ‘Olduvai Gorge’. It’s actually ‘Oldupai Gorge’, pronounced with a ‘P’ and not ‘V’, which was exciting to know. My highlight was walking to the Gorge. Getting to touch it and learn about its history and geographical properties was eye-opening.”

“Our excursion was at Nyumba ya Mungu Dam,” says Nasra, a Form 4 science student.

Nyumba ya Mungu which means House of God in Kiswahili, is a man-made reservoir in the Kilimanjaro region, Northern Tanzania. The reservoir provides hydro-electric power and serves as a source of irrigation and fishing.

Describing the relevance of the field trip, Nasra says, “As a science student, this trip has inspired me to learn more about hydro-electric power and now, more than ever I’m motivated to be an engineer.”

Excursions are memorable, and immerse students in learning by doing to broaden their perspective. By giving students a first-hand experience, the school builds their knowledge base and encourages students to connect with the world in a new way.