In 2015, the Beyond St Jude’s program launched its first Community Service Year. A handful of bold sponsors and 50 graduates put their trust in this new program, enabling The School of St Jude to venture into uncharted territory, with a vision of nurturing our graduates’ leadership potential and changing even more lives.
We knew from day one that Beyond St Jude’s was going to have an important impact on St Jude’s graduates, but we had no idea just how much they would help their communities flourish, and how much they personally would grow from the experience.
In its pilot year alone, our interns taught over 10,000 government school students!
In 2017, three years on, we have welcomed 117 new graduates into the program. As of today, we have positively impacted over 22,000 students in 80 schools in the Arusha district. The ripple effect is spreading far and wide!
The numbers tell one story, but the stories shared by Community Service Year interns tell a heart-warming personal tale of compassion and triumph against the odds.
Each intern who chose to teach during their Community Service Year enthusiastically rose to the occasion.
For most of their schooling, these young adults enjoyed a free, high-quality education at The School of St Jude. However, Beyond St Jude’s interns appreciate their privilege, and realise government school students aren’t always so fortunate.
Government schools in Tanzania are over-crowded and under-resourced. Our interns work tirelessly, teaching hundreds of students each day with great professionalism and empathy.
Some Community Service Year interns overcame monumental challenges. As the only mathematics teacher in his government school, Joseph became Head of Department, teaching 244 students in total!
“I feel very good doing community service. I am helping with the whole of my heart because I know how it feels to have nothing,” the brave leader said.
Joseph’s students also benefitted from his teaching abilities.
“He is a good teacher because he taught me new skills and knowledge. He has improved my study skills and confidence,” said Form 3 government school pupil, Elibariki.
Joseph comes from a rural area outside of Arusha. Aside from helping so many students, Joseph changed his family’s life. With the stipend he earned during his internship, he rebuilt his mother’s house and provided school uniform and books for his younger brother.
Beyond St Jude’s interns have their sights set on higher education upon completing their Community Service Year. Through Beyond St Jude’s, we have 66 Scholars studying everything from Education, Communications and Law, to Medicine, Engineering and Agriculture, in institutions across the country.
Thanks to the quality education they received at St Jude’s, our students are motivated to take their next steps into higher education. However, financial aid for post-secondary study in Tanzania is severely limited. Many high school graduates are not able to afford tuition fees, and government loans for disadvantaged graduates have decreased.
Currently, more than 40 Community Service Year interns and university scholars in our program remain unsponsored. Without a higher education, it is impossible for many St Jude’s graduates to reach their long-term dreams of becoming Tanzania’s future leaders.
The Beyond St Jude’s program is more than just an education sponsorship. It is the bridge between adolescence and adulthood for St Jude’s graduates, who are fighting poverty through education with support from donors and sponsors worldwide. Their lives have been changed, and now, they are changing the lives of others.
Support Beyond St Jude’s by becoming a sponsor or donating to our tertiary fund.
An air of promise and hope hung in the Sisia primary campus hall at our annual St Jude’s Day celebration on Friday October 27.
More than 2,000 staff, students, visitors and invited guests gathered excitedly to celebrate the feast day of our school’s namesake, St Jude, the patron saint of hopeless causes.
Students and staff from Smith secondary campus arrived at Moshono as early as 6.00am, in preparation for a day of festivities, friendship and food!
“St Jude’s Day is very important because everyone who belongs to the school community comes together to understand each other, to serve together, and we hope the mission of The School of St Jude will always be supported,” said George Stephen, our Primary School Headmaster.
With a vision to educate moral and intellectual leaders who radiate compassion, it comes as no surprise that St Jude’s Day is one of the most important events on the school calendar.
The celebration began with a mass, during which students generously brought forth gifts to be donated to disadvantaged members of the local community.
“It makes me very, very proud to see the students giving back. This is a real team effort,” George added.
Following mass, and a scrummy lunch of traditional Tanzanian cuisine, it was time for an afternoon of spectacular entertainment!
The audience cheered, laughed and shed tears of pride, watching students of all ages express profound gratitude for their education.
Sisia primary campus’s Head Girl, Faith, gave a particularly stirring vote of thanks during Class 6E’s cultural performance.
“This is a golden chance. A golden chance which we would not have otherwise had. This is the only school in Arusha providing free, quality education. There is no school like St Jude’s. This is the best place to be.”
Our visitors wholeheartedly agreed.
“This is such a happy occasion. You can see the students really value what they’ve achieved, and they want to give back. You can see how much it means to them to help others,” said Rita Harris, Secretary of the East African Fund Board.
One special guest, whose presence invigorated hundreds of students and staff, was former International Director and current East African Fund Board Director, Kim Saville.
Kim, alongside Angela Bailey, helped Gemma Sisia start The School of St Jude in 2002 and worked at the School until her official fit-for-a-queen sendoff in January this year.
“There are no words to describe what it means to be back today,” Kim said.
Eric, our Form 3 Young Scientist Tanzania winner, was thrilled to see Kim, who has been a mentor for him since he first started at St Jude’s.
“I am so, so happy to be here today. We are one family. Today, we celebrate, we sing and we give back.”
“Everyone is so talented.”
Festivities concluded with an emotional performance of the1985 hit-single, ‘We Are The World’.
Led by several business and academic staff with talented secondary students, the entire school community raised their voices in unison, proclaiming a commitment to fighting poverty through education.
We thank our generous supporters and sponsors for ensuring each student at St Jude’s has their ‘golden chance’ to be a beacon of hope in Tanzania.
The School of St Jude is anything but a hopeless cause.
You can ignite the flame of hope for a student in need by making a donation today.
Last month, we shared stories of sustainability, from our investment in a school farm and the cultivation of conservation education, to the empowerment of local staff and our stewardship of long running funding and project partnerships.
Sustainability is not a buzz word to us and questions of the future confront us every day, as our students step off the bright St Jude’s buses and towards a bright future…
How can we be sure to meet our commitments to the students in our care?
When a student enters St Jude’s in primary or secondary school, we must be sure that we can fulfill our promise to support them throughout their academic scholarship and beyond.
Our dream is for St Jude’s to have a multi-generational impact on the education system in Tanzania.
We have achieved so much to be proud of in our first 15 years and we believe the next 15 years, and beyond, promise to be even more fruitful!
While the students may be with us for 13 years, we are committed to driving effective change in Tanzania for many decades to come.
No matter how generous our supporters, or how frenetic the pace of our fundraising roadshows, we have no guarantee that from year to year we will be able to meet the costs of educating over 1800 students and our proud and growing cohort of graduates in the Beyond St Jude’s Program.
Our financial sustainability is informed by our mission, values and the facts:
- We will not charge school fees to the poorest families in Arusha.
- We rely on you for continuing support.
- We will continue to communicate with you what we are doing, in the hope that you will continue to partner with us on this long journey.
- We will continue to be the most diligent stewards of the financial support you give us.
- We will keep costs down, we will plan and budget for the future and we will ensure tight financial controls are in place.
To ensure the long term future of St Jude’s and the future of our school mission, we have established The St Jude’s Future Fund.
The Future Fund
While we currently budget and forecast costs and income, working towards sustainability means that we also put aside any surplus funding to secure the school’s future.
Whenever we receive more than we need, be it a bequest, or a supporter wishing to provide funds for long term support, we put these funds into a separately managed account.
The funds are invested in secure long term growth assets such as Australian and international share index funds.
Management fees are kept to a minimum because we have access to pro bono financial expertise on our volunteer board.
Income from the fund is reinvested — and used to cover the three cents in every dollar of your donation that is spent by our overheads in Australia.
The future depends on what we do in the present — and we hope that all our supporters are proud of the steps we are taking to pave a secure path for the future moral and intellectual leaders of Tanzania.
If you have any questions about the Future Fund, how we manage the school’s finances, or wish to provide support, please contact Mark Cubit on 0415 109817 or mark@cubit.org.au
Not many primary school students could say they’ve sung for a Queen, a President and a Prime Minister, let alone in the same room and at the same time!
Our School of St Jude choir had that chance at the 92nd Rotary District 9211 Conference in Arusha, held in early May.
The captivating performers passionately delivered the Tanzanian National Anthem for Her Royal Highness Queen Sylvia Nagginda of Burganda, Rotary International President Nominee Sam Owlori and Tanzania’s Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa.
Leadership and pride echoed in their tune, setting the score for an exciting three days!
The conference showcased the best that Rotary International has to offer. Clubs provide an environment for people of many ages to develop new skills, and have a lot of fun, while practicing the Rotary motto: ‘Service Above Self’.
On Saturday May 6, delegates braved the morning chill and painted the town red, marching through Arusha’s streets donned in bold ‘End Polio Now’ t-shirts which were generously donated by Rotaractors from The University of Canberra.
Our Rotary Coordinator, Sebastian Cox, glowed with pride as he walked side-by-side with St Jude’s Interactors.
“The Polio walk gave Interactors the opportunity to be exposed to Rotary’s largest project – End Polio Now.”
“The eradication of Polio has been Rotary’s largest project since 1985. Even though the incidence of Polio has reduced by 99.9% since 1985, an additional 1.5 billion dollars is needed to eradicate it completely.”
“The walk was a highlight of the conference, given that the Rotary Foundation is celebrating 100 years,” Sebastian added.
More than $2000 was raised at the march through the sale of ‘End Polio Now’ Caps.
Vivian Deus, Treasurer of the Rotaract Club of St Jude, says our students’ contributions over the weekend were appreciated by all.
“Earlyactors were the superstars of the whole conference! Their enthusiasm and stories brought most of the attendees to tears.”
“They are living proof that our backgrounds don’t define us – our future does,” Vivian enthused.
St Jude’s boasts the first Earlyact club in the whole district, although many have formed since.
Our young representatives spoke fervently on what Earlyact is, the projects they have accomplished and what Rotary, as one of St Jude’s founding partners, means to them.
Interactor and conference delegate, Irene agreed with Vivian naming the Earlyact presentation, by far the most inspiring.
“They were amazing, fearless and confident. Noreen and Miriam made everyone at the conference smile and laugh.”
“It’s clear that St Jude’s is producing excellent future leaders!”
Learn more about the special relationship between Rotary and our school.
Spread the word about the success of St Jude's at your local Rotary club!
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.
Our EarlyAct and Interact clubs are now official members of the international Rotary family!
Their initial hard work was officially recognised with a celebratory event filled with fanfare, songs and inspirational words late last year. This “Installation” event featured guests from Rotary groups in the Netherlands and Belgium, and those clubs closer to home welcomed them with open arms.
“To the students of St Jude’s, I recommend you to ask us, as your local Usa Rotary Club, if you need help with your community projects as we will be there to help you,” Usa River Rotary President Rebecca Saunder said.
Rebecca spoke about the benefits of the global Rotary family and, along with our school founder Gemma and fellow local Rotary district assistant governor Anna Rweyemamu, gave certificates to each of the EarlyAct and Interact students.
EarlyAct and Interact are Rotary-associated clubs that help teach the important Rotary message of service above self. EarlyAct is designed for students between five and 13, while Interact is for our students aged between 12 and 18.
Each elated EarlyAct and Rotaract student received a certificate, handshake and praise for their hard work to set up the clubs and become officially installed. Gemma was clearly impressed by their achievement.
“All of our students involved in Rotary really put St Jude’s values into practice, they represent the school wherever they go,” she said.
Our EarlyAct students value their newly-recognised club, as they spoke of what they would like to achieve with Rotary over this school year.
“I want to have more kindness in our community,” Anthia in Grade 3 said.
“I need a clean environment and more children to play with,” Noreen in Grade 6 said.
As an Interact member, Eric in Form 2 has really taken the club to heart.
“I wanted to join our Interact club to have the opportunity to help people around the world and to build friendships among those living around me,” he said.
“I heard about Rotary from the community work they do. Rotary came to my aunt’s village for a project that helps preserve the rain, so I decided to join Interact and help too.”
Rotary is strong at St Jude with over 70 members across both groups and room to grow. Keep an eye out to see what they achieve next!
We’re proud that our Interact and EarlyAct clubs are now officially part of the global Rotary family. You can help spread the word of our school, and how it has thrived thanks to our Rotary relationship, by downloading a presentation pack here.
