A year after heading to South Africa on an African Leadership Academy scholarship, former St Jude’s student Liston was back to share his education through a weekend leadership course at Smith campus.

The two-day, ALA-initiated camp is designed to help ambitious students problem-solve via a grassroots structure. Called “BUILD in a Box”, the course is a mobile entrepreneurial development kit that takes its name from the motto ‘Believe, Understand, Invest, Listen and Deliver’.

“I believe St Jude’s is the perfect place for me to come and teach (the course),” Liston explained.

“I studied here for a long time and I really know what they need, and what they need is that familiar relationship. By teaching them BUILD in a Box, I’m sure, once they finish at St Jude’s they will be able to run their own businesses and solve the problems in their community, using this knowledge. I think it would really help them personally, and their communities.”

This was the first BUILD course Liston has delivered, and he is ecstatic with how well it was received by the 32 St Jude’s students involved.

“BUILD is about looking at the root cause of problems, so let’s say the group you are with are looking at the root cause of poverty. The short-term impact is to help individuals, but the long-term impact is to help all of Africa,” he said.

Liston also enjoyed the opportunity BUILD provided to return to St Jude’s as an alumnus.

“I’m really happy to be here again and meet my classmates. I just feel happy. I love St Jude’s, and I think they have the same aim as ALA. Their goals are the same and, for me personally, I align with those goals. They are something that will transform the lives of many people – I’m one of those people who have been transformed by St Jude’s, and now I’m being transformed by ALA.”

Liston is half-way through his ALA scholarship, so his BUILD presentation was supported by recent ALA graduates Bernadette and Peace.

“The BUILD course is usually a term-long course but here we compress it into two days, so it’s much harder. We went through it at ALA and got the right understanding of it so that’s why we can teach it,” Peace, who hails from Rwanda, said.

“Because we are targeting 15 to 22-year-olds who are in the same age bracket, it’s easier for us to communicate from our understanding of it. It’s more of a fun, productive conversation rather than a lecture,” Tanzanian-born Bernadette said.

The young women said their main aim was to change the mindset of the students involved, and that meant each group had to find a solution through the root cause of a complex problem. Peace said students often chose too-broad topics such as education, and were asked to “think about what they can be more specific about within education”.

“We try to focus on very little problems, as in what really bothers you, as you walk from home to school or as you experience your normal, daily life with your peers,” Bernadette explained. “After you have solved a little problem, and you see ‘Oh, I successfully did that,’ it makes you feel like you can do something bigger and bigger, and that becomes a whole ‘change the society’ type of thing.”

Bernadette said their ultimate aim, at the end of each two-day program, is to produce “actual, practical solutions that people can feel they might be able to do for something they really, deeply care about”.

Bernadette and Peace said they had thoroughly enjoyed helping facilitate the St Jude’s students, and that Liston was shaping up to be a promising BUILD in a Box leader.

Meanwhile, Liston is enthusiastically looking forward to his second year at ALA.

“I’m really enjoying ALA after studying there for one year. At first it was really challenging, you know, you are changing everything, changing curriculum, no speaking Swahili. From my second term, I can say I started to enjoy it more than I thought, and I’ve had many chances to explore a lot of opportunities,” he said.

“I will graduate next year, in June, with a high school diploma. After that, I will go to college. I would like to study electrical engineering. Since when I was here (St Jude’s), since I was young, I’ve loved electrical engineering. I always taught other students and showed them, and also learnt from them. I love sharing.”

Click here to sponsor a future leader like Liston.

While visiting The School of St Jude for our recent graduation, Australians Julie and Kevin Smith shared their experience about sponsoring new graduate Amos and Form 3 (Year 9) Student Faith.

“We started sponsoring Faith about nine years ago. We found out about St Jude’s when Julie saw a program on Australian television, Sunrise.

The same day, she said, ‘look, I’ve got to find out more about this school’ and went out and bought the book, and we had a look at what it took to be a sponsor,” Kevin explained.The Western Australian couple also started sponsoring Amos when he began at St Jude’s in Form 1.

“It’s been a great experience watching them grow, we’ve seen the school grow as well from those fairly humble, small beginnings. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it,” Kevin said.

“This is the second time we’ve visited the school. In fact, this time we’ve spent lots more time with them then we did the first time, which has been really nice,” Julie said, explaining that staying at the same campus has allowed them all a great opportunity to build their relationship, even with Amos’ parents.

As parents with two daughters of their own, it’s clear that Kevin and Julie also hold their student sponsorship relationships very close to their hearts.

“I think we get a lot more back than what we give. It’s really lovely to see (Faith and Amos) grow and to know that you’re helping someone that may not have been able to do this. They don’t have the opportunities here, and we come from such easy backgrounds so to help someone, make it easier for them, is very satisfying,” Julie said.

“We have their pictures alongside our girls’ pictures on the kitchen counter - they’re just part of our family. One big, happy family,” Julie said.

“When we first started sponsoring, our girls were much younger, they were still teenagers themselves,” Kevin said, adding that their daughters would excitedly open and read the letters from Faith and Amos.

“It’s really benefitted our children, because they have a very easy life,” Julie said, laughing.

“Although they don’t correspond directly with these two, they certainly know about all the letters that I get. I quite often read the lovely letters we get from the children, and Faith’s quite good with her drawings as well.

"We also get letters from the girls in the boarding house, so our girls get to see all of that. Of course, we’ve told them everything about the school and how wonderful it is.

"They’re quite aware now how lucky they are, with the life that they’ve had. We would love to bring them and shown them, but they’re both adults now and they have jobs, but hopefully one day we’ll be able to bring them.”

It’s clear, as the four of them sit comfortably in conversation on a sunny Tanzanian afternoon, that the Smith’s visit has been mutually beneficial.

“Being sponsored by Julie and Kevin is such an amazing opportunity, so I really appreciate that. I am so happy I will be together with my sponsors and my parents for this very special day (graduation). I think it’s going to be amazing, it will be wonderful,” Amos said with a grin.

“In Tanzania, the education system is very different and it is very hard. In public schools, the situation there is very hard. There is a lack of resources, such as books and teachers, but here at St Jude’s the situation is a little bit different.

"For example, in studies, we have enough books so you can study very easily, and the school also has got a very big library where there are many different kinds of books.

"The school also has other resources such as computers where you can go and research different information, so at St Jude’s the education system is very improved compared to government schools. I am very happy to be in such an institution that cares about education.”

“It’s so interesting to be sponsored – they have been sponsoring me since I was at prep and Grade 1, they give me challenges and I’m proud to be at St Jude’s. It’s really fun,” Faith added, a shy smile spreading across her lips, as her eyes flick over to Julie and Kevin.

Later that night, during a student-held variety concert, Kevin and Julie watched Amos demonstrate one of his passions – dance.

“I like dancing, I like to do artworks, I mean drawing cartoons, playing soccer and singing,” he said.

Julie said she was pleased the couple could mate it to Tanzania to witness Amos graduate from Form 6.

“We’re so happy to be here for graduation and to see (the Form 6’s) come to the completion of their secondary schooling," she said.

"It’s also wonderful to know that they’re going to continue on and that we can hopefully continue to support them to fulfilling their dreams - Amos has some wonderful dreams and some great plans to get to those dreams, and they’re all very positive and happy about what they’re doing."

There had to be something special happening at St Jude’s to lure our very first teacher back.

Australian volunteer Angela Bailey fondly remembers her first time living in the Arusha and volunteering at the school, so the chance to offer further support to some of the very same students she taught back in those early days was too good to pass up.

“It’s amazing, and I feel very privileged to be back here working with these kids, or young adults I should say, because they are amazing students. It has been fantastic walking through the grounds of the secondary school, getting big hugs and cool handshakes,” she said.

“I’m certainly very excited to be working with them and they seem to be very excited about it too.”

Thirteen years ago, the Sydney resident helped establish the St Jude’s, along with Gemma Sisia and Kim Saville, who have both remained at the school.

Angela became the first teacher at St Jude’s and spent three years with us, before spending the last decade working on various projects in Australia and Vietnam.

She had been back to the school to visit during that decade, but to be working here again is something rather special.

“The last time I was here was for the 10 years (anniversary), and before that it had been five years. That time I remember I was just walking around in tears, it was so emotional I could hardly even talk,” she said.

“There’s now three campuses when there was only one… more buses. More students, obviously. I notice the higher-educated teachers, through conversation with them. Moshono (village) has completely and utterly changed – there’s so many shops now, and a nightclub, a lot more people, a lot more traffic, lots of people moving to Moshono from town (Arusha)…”

Almost three years after her last visit, Angela heard murmurings of our community service and tertiary teams and knew it was the reason she would return.

She arrived at St Jude’s in early April to oversee the teams (pictured below), as part of the Beyond St Jude’s program.

Her responsibility is far from a walk in the park, with 59 of the 61 graduating students in the program volunteering to spend a year as teachers in Government-run schools before their university education begins. Angela said the hard work her excellent team had already put in was a great start.

“Gemma and I joke around - she has literally offered me so many jobs to come back over the years – and this, for me, was it. I am so passionate about the community service and I think it is such an amazing way for these kids to give back,” she said.

“There’s an opportunity to make even more of a difference here, as this education is going to spread even further, into the government schools, which I know are seriously lacking. This is why I’m so excited and passionate about this role in particular.”

Throughout the following two years she plans to spend here, Angela looks forward to seeing the success of the Beyond St Jude’s program and all the students involved.

“We’ll be giving them packages, to go out, so depending on the subjects they’re teaching they’ll have textbooks to take with them, resources, chalk, and everything they would need,” she explained.

“I hope we have a really good start on both the community service project and the tertiary. I’m hoping that by the time I leave it’s running well (of its own accord). We’re going to learn a lot in the first couple of years.”

Our Sponsor Relations team is the biggest team in the business office at St Jude‘s. We have are made up of people from all over the globe; Australia, America, Ireland, the UK, working alongside eight fantastic Tanzanians.

St Jude‘s Sponsors provide some of the much-needed support to ensure that each of our students has the resources needed for a high-quality education. Our team is responsible for all communications and correspondence with this amazing family of sponsors! 

Here is a typical day in our office: 

8:30 – 9:30: Since our sponsors are from all over the world, emails come in around the clock. Our mornings are often spent replying to our sponsors who have inquired through the night. We love hearing from all our sponsors! 

9:30 – 10:00: By mid-morning, our Sponsor Communications Team is busy keeping our wonderful sponsors up to date with all the exciting things happening at St Jude‘s and with their sponsored students, teachers, buses and boarding rooms. Our Sponsor Correspondence Team is hard at work corresponding with our fantastic family of international sponsors. From sending report cards and awards to answering general queries and requests, this is definitely the best part of the day.

10:00 – 10:20: After the morning work is nearly done, the team have a quick tea break. Sipping hot chai tea and telling stories with the students who are also on morning break puts a smile on all our faces. 

10:20 – 12:20: As well as working together in our team, we also have a lot of engagement with our students. Students love writing letters to their sponsors, and we help arrange for students to come in and have all the writing paper, colors and stationery they need to create lovely letters to be sent out. Another wonderful part of our school activities is Awards Day. We have weekly awards assemblies where the children get a chance to have their efforts acknowledged in front of their peers and teachers. 

12:20 – 13:00: Lunchtime in the primary school dining hall. On the menu ….. rice or ugali, with different green vegetables, and a spot of salad on the side. 

13:00 – 17:00: During this time, our Sponsor Correspondence team is busy arranging the end of the school year 2014, and all the preparations for the Christmas break. This includes finishing off trips to the post office with sacks full of beautiful Christmas letters for around the world, end of year assemblies and MORE awards, this time for our incredible teachers, and arranging the reports for all the students to be sent to their sponsors. No rest for the weary! 

We have just witnessed the excitement of the happiest people in Arusha at the moment! Our new students, starting at St Jude’s in January, received their first set of brand new St Jude’s uniforms! This is always the most joyful day in the school calendar as the gift of these uniforms signifies the start to a new life path for so many young Tanzanians and their families.

You can’t help but smile and your eyes well up when you watch this video – the pure elation on the faces of the families who can see a brighter future is something we all want for everyone on this planet.

With the free, quality education these children will be receiving, they will have the opportunity to escape the poverty cycle into which they were born and become skilled and professional members of the workforce. Their parents who struggle to earn $2 a day are thrilled that one of their children will reach his or her full potential and go on to live a rich and rewarding life while helping other members of the family as well. 

We are so grateful that our supporters are doing their part here in Tanzania. However, our students still need 67 new sponsors. We would love to hear from anyone who is prepared to ensure one more child and his or her family will have a future filled with possibilities. Please click here to find out how you can sponsor one of our new students. 

We are so grateful for 25 new sponsors who have stepped forward to provide our students with a free, high - quality education. It is exciting to think of the possibilities that now lie before these students who will start at St Jude‟s in January. Imagine how their lives will change! With an education these students, who previously knew only a life of poverty, will have the opportunity to make choices about the life they want to live. 

Meet Huseein, a student starting in January Huseein lives with his mother, father, and two older sisters in a rented two-room mud house in the Unga area of Arusha. They use a car battery to power the few light bulbs in their home and pay 50 shillings (30 cents) for a bucket of water which they collect from the tap at a nearby house. Every morning, they cook breakfast in the corner of one of the rooms over a charcoal fire. 

Huseein is lucky to have both of his parents employed. His parents work six days a week making shoes, earning a few dollars a day depending on how many shoes they can sell. His mother does the intricate beadwork for Maasai sandals and his father makes rubber thongs from old tires and sells them on the street corner. The family also has a small plot of land where they grow food to make sure there is always something to eat. 

Huseein loves school and was number four in his class of 88 last year. He received near-perfect marks in math, English, and Kiswahili- his favorite subject. When he grows up he wants to be a doctor so he can help people who can‟t get help. He is thrilled to start school at St Jude‟s and is most looking forward to learning how to speak English.