On a sunny Thursday morning, at a government secondary school only ten minutes from St Jude’s, just over 50 students are crammed into a classroom. Cables hang from the tin ceiling, the paint on the walls is peeling and at the back of the classroom runs a long wooden bench, where students who aren’t lucky enough to have a desk are crammed shoulder-to-shoulder.
Zulfa, a 2019 St Jude’s graduate who is teaching commerce and business as part of her Community Service Year, walks into the classroom followed by 15 visitors.
The guests are 12 students, and three teachers from Methodist Ladies’ College (MLC), an all-girls school in Melbourne, Australia.
As the girls roam the classroom, they struggle to communicate as the local students speak little English.
Not the kind to give up, the MLC girls decide to sing a song they’ve learnt whilst being here that is popular amongst Tanzanian youth.
“Esther!” sing the girls, from the front of the classroom. “Hello sister!”
The class catch on, recognising the tune.
“I say come here,” sing the Tanzanian and Australian students together. “Look at the motor car!”
Some of the students begin standing up around the classroom, joining in with the MLC girls, dancing and pretending to drive a car – “shake your body, body, body!”
As the song finishes, Zulfa leads the visitors out of the classroom and into the yard. She begins talking about her experience teaching at a government school, and how this compares to her time at St Jude's.
“There are three main differences between St Jude’s and this school,” Zulfa tells her guests.
The first difference is the students’ lack of English skills, the second lies in outdated learning techniques and the final is a lack of resources.
“When it comes to exams, students will be paired off,” says Zulfa. “One will be given access to a desk and chair, the other will have to go outside, sit on the ground and write using their thigh for support.”
Teachers have to buy their own textbooks, supplying notes to all the students. The library is located in a shed; the shelves are half empty. The school has 1,453 students.
As the girls stand in the hot midday sun, a boy sprints across the yard to a tyre rim, hanging from a tree. He pulls out a stick and begins whacking the rusty relic to begin recess – clang, clang, clang!
Students begin spilling out of their classrooms, rushing towards the Australians.
One of the MLC students, Allie, begins talking with a girl about what she wants to do in the future.
“I like it when I hear girls say they want to be a doctor or a lawyer,” says Allie. “It’s comforting, and makes me feel proud.”
In Tanzania, the majority of girls will leave school before their twelfth birthday.
“By giving girls an education,” says Zulfa. “You can get rid of early marriage, young pregnancy, and child labour.”
For this reason, Zulfa is excited that St Jude’s will be opening a new all-girls campus in Moshono for hundreds of secondary students.
“It’s important that girls have a space of their own,” says Zulfa. “To push each other, to become the doctors and engineers of the future.”
Emily, another of the MLC group, agrees with Zulfa.
“At MLC, we empower girls,” says Emily. “St Jude’s having an all-girls campus will do the same thing.”
Experience your own immersion into Tanzanian life and culture and see the impact St Jude’s is having on the community, organise a visit today.
Two years ago, Lance was more than 13,000 kilometres away from Moshono, at school, in Medina, Minnesota, studying a subject called ‘Life Class’, when his teacher began talking about Tanzania and a school in Arusha.
It was at this point that Lance’s teacher showed the class a ‘60 Minutes’ documentary featuring an interview with The School of St Jude Founder, Gemma Sisia.
The documentary made an immediate impression on Lance.
He wanted to help.
“If you’re a kid and you can help another kid,” says Lance. “Then why not?”
That night, Lance went home and showed his parents the St Jude’s website, wanting them to be as enthused as he was by what he’d seen.
Lance’s parents were impressed by St Jude’s, but they figured this was a passing interest, like with other things Lance had learnt about at school.
“From our perspective,” says Lance’s dad, David. “He comes home from school with something exciting all the time.”
But weeks turned into months, and Lance did not let up.
Months later, for Christmas, Lance decided that instead of receiving presents, he wanted to try and sponsor a student's education. On his birthday, he doubled down, insisting that all the money he received be put towards helping St Jude’s.
“Lance’s mantra is ‘kids can do things’,” says David.
Encouraged by his parents, Lance pooled together all his money and began a shared sponsorship of an academic scholarship for a Standard 3 student, Twayiba.
He has now been supporting Twayiba for almost two years, with the two exchanging letters and photos several times a year.
It’s not just Lance who eagerly awaits to hear from Twayiba, but his parents and sister too.
“Because it’s Lance’s money that pays the sponsorship cost, it’s in his name and the letters go to him, so I’m always having to asking him – hey, let me see them too!” says Lance’s mother, Nicole.
As the exchange of letters continued, the two children, from opposite sides of the planet, began to establish a connection and Lance set about lobbying his parents to visit St Jude’s and Twayiba in person.
In July, they did just that.
Upon arriving, Lance’s family were surprised by the enormity of St Jude’s.
“You think it’s going to be a little school,” says David. “But we came here and we were floored – it’s got multiple campuses and it’s grown so much.”
The family joined a reading lesson with a class of primary students in the library. Lance was impressed with the reading skills of the students.
“There were some pretty big words, like ‘fascinating’”, says Lance. “And they knew them! To think that only a couple of years ago they didn’t speak or read any English, it’s pretty amazing.”
Lance’s favourite thing about his visit?
“Visiting Twayiba’s home and meeting her family,” Lance easily recalls, “the culture exchange was great, we were all asking questions. How old we were, what our families were like. They were a bit surprised to find out it was me sponsoring Twayiba though, I think they thought it was my dad!”
After visiting St Jude’s and seeing it in action for themselves, Lance and his family are now keener than ever to spread the word about St Jude’s.
Australian pharmacy managers, Margo and Tina, have seen many changes at The School of St Jude after visiting seven times and both admit they’ve ‘fallen in love’ with St Jude’s.
“I am amazed at what this school has accomplished and the progression to now. I can see a lot of the hard work coming to fruition, especially with the number of Tanzanian staff there are now,” Margo enthusiastically explained.
The bubbly duo have become passionate about fighting poverty through education and, as sponsors of the academic scholarships of two female students, have marvelled at the changes they have seen in the students’ lives.
“When I went to visit Angela at home for the first time seven years ago I nearly pulled down the tin shed her family lived in because I sat down too fast on the bed and the curtain came down! It was a single room made of tin with a dirt floor, but the family were so grateful. Now the family are in a brick house with a concrete floor and whilst they still don’t have a door, their level of living has certainly improved which is really heartwarming,” Tina smiled.
“13-year-old Christina was a shy little girl when I started sponsoring her scholarship, but now she is very mature. At the first home visit all those years ago it really struck me how fortunate it was for Christina to be accepted to St Jude’s. They are now in a three-roomed house compared to one room when I first came,” Margo added.
With Margo’s support and the commitment of her St Jude’s teachers, Standard 7 student, Christina, has become a strong performing science student and her ambition to be a future leader just keeps developing.
“Her goal for the seven years I’ve known her has always been to be a doctor. To imagine her going to university really pulls on my heart strings,” Margo shared through teary eyes.
Both woman have already witnessed many landmark years in St Jude’s history.
“I am amazed how the school is always evolving. We were thrilled by the launch of the Beyond St Jude’s program shortly before our last visit, and now we’ve learnt it has a team of eight helping hundreds of alumni. It’s quite amazing that St Jude’s will have their first university graduates this year,” Tina reflected.
Both couldn’t be more excited to see St Jude’s enter a new era with a girls’ secondary school to be opened in January next year. The reconfiguring of existing campuses will enable St Jude’s to increase the number of graduates and stack the odds in favour of girls. In a country where girls from a poor rural area will only receive 3.7 years of schooling, and less than 25% will have received some secondary education, the new school creates the opportunity to redress this imbalance.
“For more women to have an education is just phenomenal. I think it’s a fabulous idea. When you talk to Tanzanians they see that gender inequality is present but progress to address it is slow. It will be special to see the girls’ school up and running on our next visit,” Tina and Margo discussed as they walked by the facilities that are now being transformed for the new project.
As St Jude’s works to make a bigger impact on more Tanzanian students and their families, Margo and Tina are vowing to continue to spread the word of the life changing work they witness every time they visit.
“I think our role as sponsors is to create that ripple effect and I am finding that each time I go back to Australia it’s the younger generation that are really interested in projects like this,” Tina explained.
“You can expect us to visit as long as we have a heartbeat,” Margo laughed looking around the school that her, and thousands of other generous supporters from around the world, have helped the local community turn into reality.
Join Tina, Margo and the 1,100+ visitors that stop by St Jude’s each year and witness the exciting new era for yourself. Contact our visitors team to arrange a visit.
Coordinating a family get-together can be tough in 2019 with competing schedules and commitments, but one longtime St Jude’s supporter decided to tempt his family with travel, inviting 11 of them on a trip of a lifetime to Arusha, Tanzania to visit a place very close to his heart.
Brian Moloney has been involved with The School of St Jude for 15 years, sponsoring two students’ academic scholarships as well as supporting additional boarding and transport costs.
His friendship with Gemma and the school has had such a profound impact on the Australian from Canterbury in Victoria that he and his wife wanted to share the experience with their children and grandchildren.
“I saw Gemma on the ABC and I was so taken back I started sponsoring a student’s scholarship. Visiting here I am so impressed where the money goes. Students are dressed well, the campus is spotless, the food is great, the opportunities everyone is given, it’s just outstanding,” Brian said standing next to one the school buses he helps maintain.
Brian is passionate about the ethos of giving back to those in need and wants to instill that idea in the next generation.
“I think it’s very important that Australians get behind the school as Tanzania is a country that is struggling and there is a lot of unemployment. This is an opportunity to change that, we could help make the future very bright.”
Part of that future is Brian’s granddaughter, Georgia, who’s already planning to follow in the footsteps of her Pa after visiting St Jude’s.
“Being here has opened my eyes. I’ve grown up with Pa sponsoring the students’ scholarships, I’ve seen all the letters and photos so it’s been amazing to actually be here with him. The highlight has been seeing the resilience of the students who have done it tough. I want to come here more times in my life and keep up the connection to St Jude’s,” Georgia shared while enjoying lunch with the students.
For Brian’s daughter the family’s jam-packed itinerary visiting the homes of St Jude’s students, joining them in extracurricular classes and exploring the wider community has been life changing.
“Thank God dad saw Gemma on the TV and he’s been able to share this school with us. This trip has been a big wake up call for me. St Jude’s has really embraced our family. The students are respectful, disciplined, keen and are invigorated by coming to the school,” Brian’s daughter Danielle reflected.
While St Jude’s has over 1,500 visitors each year, the majority coming between May and September over high season, this special intergenerational interaction was one to remember, bringing together the past and the future.
It’s safe to say the whole Moloney family are on board with Brian’s retirement plan to use his newfound spare time to fundraise for St Jude’s, after seeing the educational institution’s impact and their grandfather’s contribution come to life for themselves.
Brian and the Moloney family can see the change’ St Jude’s is creating. Join them and visit St Jude’s to see firsthand the impact that people from all over the world have achieved together, changing the lives of 1,800 students, over 500 graduates and 290 staff and their families.
The student sat still, a stethoscope on their heart, an otoscope in their ears and an ophthalmoscope waved over their eyes.
This is just part of the routine our brilliant team of health professionals undertake when assessing every child at St Jude’s from head to toe, when they visit the school each year.
They’re ensuring students can read their school blackboards and books, hear their teachers and are fit for class.
It’s no small task to adequately assess the needs of 1,800 students in just two weeks, but with decades of experience in a range of medical fields, the team saw the students in record time. The team then use their findings to refer students to medical professionals in Arusha for further assessment and support.
With an even wider variety of clinicians this year, there was an increased focus on ‘Orthoptics’ where students received a more in-depth assessment of their eyes and more recommendations could be made.
The multi-disciplinary team also included a wellbeing group, comprising of social workers and school psychologists, who held professional development seminars to help teachers identify and address mental health issues students may experience.
For Melbourne Physiotherapist, Jane Larkin, who co-led the Health Check program in its twelfth year, it’s about making a tangible difference during their two-week stay.
“These students come and get ten minutes of our time and it can be life changing for them. There was a student that thought she would never be able to board at St Jude’s because of her health, but now as a 17-year-old she is studying and living with her peers in boarding and absolutely thriving. Being able to facilitate that transition and for St Jude’s to source things to meet her needs, I think has made a huge difference for that student, “ Jane smiled.
Newcomer to the Health Check team this year but long-term sponsor, Kerrie, was part of the team that checked each child’s height, weight and BMI. Not only does this highlight malnourished students who can be given an increased diet, these measurements are also a requirement from the Tanzanian government.
“I was impressed with how many students were really interested in finding out about their health. The older ones even wanted to know what the nutrition protocol from the World Health Organisation was for their age,” Kerrie reflected.
It was a special moment when the students whose academic scholarships Kerrie sponsors went through the checks.
“It was very emotional because I hadn’t seen the girls for six years, since I last was at the school, and it was just so rewarding to see how well they are doing, how healthy they are and how well they are getting on at school,” Kerrie gushed.
For the Sunshine Coast local it’s been a privilege watching the growth of the school and its students.
“I’ve noticed since I visited six years ago just how everyone’s health and wellbeing has improved. The students were really open and welcoming, they just wanted to chat and engage with you,” Kerrie expressed.
The team are vowing they’ll continue to contribute for another decade, but their ultimate goal is to help upskill local Tanzanian staff, so that more minds and bodies can be kept healthy all year round, one checkup at a time.
“For us to be able to screen these students and find local follow up here in Arusha, it can actually make a difference,” Jane smiled, proudly looking at her team.
Seated around a small wooden table, under a rusty tin roof, with poultry brushing past their legs, Australian visitors Allanah and Vanessa have stepped into a life very different from their own.
They’ve been warmly welcomed to Standard 2 student Selina’s home in Njiro, an economically diverse residential area in Arusha, that is facing many challenges. Selina’s family of seven cram into the two-roomed home each night after her father finishes work as a builder and her mother has spent the day looking after the children.
Selina has become an important member of the family after being accepted into The School of St Jude last year. She’s already flourishing at the school, receiving straight A’s in her last academic report and even teaching her older siblings English.
‘We were very happy when Selina got chosen for St Jude’s. I never thought one of my children would go to such a school, Selina’s mother shared while proudly looking at Selina.
She knows a St Jude’s education makes it much more likely that Selina will continue with her studies and reach university too, unlike the 97% of Tanzanians aged 17-22 who aren’t enrolled in further education this year.
The conversation began to flow between the visitors and the family, with the help of Selina’s teacher translating between English and Swahili.
Selina’s after school activities were discussed; chores to help the family and the Tanzanian version of dodgeball for fun with her siblings. Family sizes were then compared with Selina’s mother curious to ask the western women why in their culture mothers are having less babies and at a later age.
‘You could see we were curious about each other; they were very welcoming. It was special to see that Selina being selected to go to St Jude’s was such a big thing in their life. They feel like they’ve been selected amongst their people, Vanessa reflected.‘It was lovely to interact, even though there was the interpreter, it still felt very personal,’ Vanessa added.
A warm cup of ginger tea and roasted peanuts are offered around, with the help of the surrounding neighbours, who dropped in to see what the increased activity at the home was all about.
Vanessa and Allanah also gave the family a gift pack filled with essentials like soap, oil and a solar torch. A small gesture in appreciation for the rare and authentic interaction.
‘I haven’t really done anything like that before, it was good to get away from the typical touristy things that you would do on a trip and experience real life for these people and where they are living. You can prepare in your mind for what to expect, but it’s never the same as being there.
Having the animals so close to the house and the small living area, their bedroom and everyone in the one room was eye-opening, Allanah commented.After a tour of the humble village, both Allanah and Vanessa walked away with a new outlook on life and understanding the wider impact St Jude’s is having for the whole family of a student.
‘You can see where the St Jude’s money is going across Arusha every single day, it’s very visible how the money is being used. It’s all for a good cause and going to the right people and the right needs, Allanah said, looking at Selina as she plays with her younger brother.
‘Today’s visit is a good reminder for us because we keep thinking we need more and more and more and that’s not really what happiness comes from, Vanessa expressed as she smiled at Selina’s mother in acknowledgment.
Both Allanah and Vanessa want to visit again, cementing a special bond with Selina and her family.If you would like to meet one of our inspiring students and be warmly welcomed into their home, email our visitor team at visitor@schoolofstjude.co.tz
