The St Jude’s Special

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.