I can’t believe it’s that time of year again! My calendar is filling up fast, the wheels are in motion and it’s thrilling to think that in less than one month, Godwin, our 2018 graduate, and I will be touching down in Melbourne – the first stop on The School of St Jude’s 2019 promotional tour.
Godwin is an exceptional young man and a shining example of how St Jude’s, the school so many of you helped to build, is transforming lives and communities in Tanzania.
Respect, responsibility, honesty and kindness are key values that underpin St Jude’s. Many years ago, we decided to hang these words on signs across our school campuses. I dreamed our graduates would personify these qualities. Godwin does exactly that. I know you will love meeting him during the promotional tour, and I certainly look forward to catching up with old friends and making many new ones.
Between late February and the end of March, Godwin and I will be zipping between Australia’s eastern and southern coasts and hopping over to visit our friends in New Zealand.
Click here for a list of upcoming events in each region.
See you soon, mates!
Gemma Sisia, Founder, The School of St Jude
The Rotary Club of Wicklow is organising a table quiz and dinner to help students from the Dominican College Wicklow to raise funds for the School of St Jude in Tanzania.
It may be over 11,000km from Wicklow town to Tanzania, but students from the local Dominican College are making an enormous contribution in bringing both countries together through a visionary educational project. Tanzania has endemic poverty and is unable to provide its children with a quality education as the government school system is overstretched and vastly under-resourced.
The School of St Jude was formed in 2002 and educates disadvantaged students. When they finish their education they then return to their communities to demonstrate educational leadership in Tanzania. The school receives no State funding so depends entirely on voluntary donations. A few years ago students from Dominican College decided to help by raising €3,000 each month which goes directly to the school.
The Rotary Club of Wicklow has supported the Dominican students fundraising campaign for St. Jude's since it was initiated. On Friday, March 23, Rotary is hosting a table quiz in the Grand Hotel at 7.30 p.m. in collaboration with the Dominican students and their supporters to increase its funding.
'We urge people in Wicklow to come out and support this visionary project and also learn about the remarkable work carried out by local students,' said Pat Kerr, President of Wicklow Rotary. 'They have shown remarkable skills and initiative in supporting this worthwhile educational venture and we are delighted to support them.'
Teacher John O'Brien said the school is extremely proud of the efforts of the Wicklow students.
'They have raised over €100,000 for the school of St Jude and also sponsor students in helping to give them an education and a chance in life that they would not otherwise have. Drawn from families who often live on less than €1 per day, the pupils of St Jude's are shining examples of what students can achieve when they are given the opportunity to receive a quality education.'
Those wishing to attend can contact John O'Brien on (0404) 68111 or (087) 6598309 or Pat Kerr at (086) 3398390. The Tickets are priced at €30 each or €120 for a team of four.
Michael Buchanan, Wicklow People (read the original article here).
Edgar Tarimo is changing the world one brick at a time.
The teenage schoolboy from Tanzania just won a top international environment prize with his inspired project making house bricks out of plastic waste.
The 17-year-old now hopes that one day thousands of homes all over the developing world will be built out of the recycled plastic bottles, bags and packaging – and he wants to thank Australia for making it all possible.
For without Australian teacher Gemma Sisia who set up a school in poverty-stricken northern Tanzania and awarded him a free scholarship, and the thousands of Australians who support her every week with donations, he would never have been able to follow his dream of improving housing in his country.
“Being at her school has taught me how to think outside of the box and to see possibilities and opportunities out there in the world,” says Edgar, smiling.
Schoolboy Edgar Tarimo with his Australian teacher Gemma Sisia, who started a school in Tanzania 16 years ago with just three students.
“Gemma is the person who’s changed my life. I’m a new person because of the education she’s given me. If she hadn’t come and built her school, with other Australians sending over funds to help, I have no idea what I’d be doing now – if anything at all.”
Edgar is just back home from a trip to Sweden to accept the 2017 Children’s Climate Prize for his scheme recycling plastics to build permanent homes. The idea came to him after seeing mud-brick houses in the nation’s capital Dar es Salaam swept away in floods, and knowing how plastic litter is destroying the countryside.
He’s a pupil at the School of St Jude in Tanzania’s second city Arusha started by education pioneer Gemma Sisia. From a sheep property in Armidale, she went to Africa for a holiday, fell in love with her Tanzanian safari guide and then built the school 16 years ago on some land donated by her new father-in-law.
She began with just herself and three pupils. Today, she has 2000 students and 350 staff, and her school is recognised as one of the best in East Africa.
“It’s so wonderful to see kids like Edgar flourishing and it gives energy and inspiration to all the other children to see him do so well,” says Gemma, now with four children of her own, aged between16 and five. “He’s a very humble boy, but he’s passionate and quietly driven to change the world.
“When you have kids who grow up with very little, that struggle can end up becoming a real gift. Of course, it’s not nice to see them struggle, but it helps them appreciate what they’ve got and teaches them to be strong and determined.
“They come from poverty-stricken families and, as a result, they aren’t pushovers. So if someone tells them something isn’t possible, they’ll go on to the next person, or if one door closes, they’ll knock on the next.” “
Edgar has also been recognised as a next-generation young African entrepreneurial leader as first runner-up of the Anzisha Prize, and now employs five people full-time in his building venture Green Venture Recycles, and over 80 part-time who collect discarded plastics for him.
There are hopes that his trash-to-treasure vision may become Africa-wide, and then start to transform housing in the developing world.
Edgar’s sponsor is a Sydney donor to the school, and 90 per cent of the funding to keep the school going is raised by Australians.
“We’re grateful for every donation, however big, or however small. We love Australians visiting us here, or volunteering to help us, or just giving. And when you see kids like Edgar changing the world, then you can see how valuable this is.”
Sue Williams, Domain (read the original article here).
With Giving Tuesday almost upon us, we are calling upon all people of goodwill to help create lasting change for our students.
You are giving a gift to support St Jude’s to deliver a free, high-quality education and improve the lives of 1,800 of Tanzanian students who come from backgrounds of severe poverty.
There are several significant ways you can join the cause and deliver opportunity, hope and prosperity to people in need this holiday season.
One of the ways you can help is by signing on to sponsor an academic scholarship for one of our students.
You may remember Kevin, one of our very first American St Jude’s supporters, who featured in our August newsletter. Kevin and his wife, Mary Beth, began sponsoring an academic scholarship for young Musa during their initial visit to St Jude’s in 2004.
Musa is currently a Beyond St Jude’s participant who, as a part of his Community Service Year, voluntarily teaches mathematics at an under-resourced government school near our Sisia Primary Campus. His scholarship is still sponsored by Kevin and Mary Beth, who could not be more proud of Musa’s success.
“Through sponsorship, we have affected areas of Musa’s life we never imagined. [His family] lives very modestly but had previously been exceptionally poor. Because we were paying for Musa’s education, they saved enough money to build a home,” Kevin said.
“It’s important for Mary Beth and I to continue supporting Musa’s scholarship into his Community Service Year, because I’m aware that people can be given a great education through high school and when it’s over, they have no integration. This is a brilliant part of Gemma’s master plan, because these graduates have fertile ground to grow from rather than being left on cold pavement outside the door,” he explained.
Sponsorship means our students have access to safe, private transport via our fleet of 29 school buses. It enables 1,372 students between Standard 5 and Form 6 to have a safe and conducive environment for learning in secure boarding accommodation.
St Jude’s serves 29,000 free, hot meals per week to students and staff, keeping students’ stomachs full and fuelling their appetite for learning.
While many of our students’ scholarships are either fully or partially sponsored, there are still some who do not have their scholarships fully sponsored. The gap is covered by our Unsponsored Student Fund.
Your donation to the Unsponsored Student Fund helps us to close the gap and open our gates to 1,800 students each year, even if we have not managed to find people to fully sponsor all of them.
Sponsorship, however, is not the only way to make a tangible impact on our students’ education.
Making a general donation to The School of St Jude means we can address pressing, immediate needs of our school community.
Earlier this year, a large portion of the boundary wall at Smith Secondary Campus was swept away by torrential rains. Donations from our international family of supporters allowed us to repair the damage.
It takes a lot to keep a school like St Jude’s running each year. Our priority is to continue promising everything our students need to reach their potential and become community-focused leaders of tomorrow.
What are you waiting for? There’s no better time of year to give a gift that will improve someone’s life. Sponsor or donate today to give a Tanzanian student the chance to prosper.
St Jude’s Earlyactors, Interactors and Rotaractors have been busying themselves with several significant projects during the second half of this year! Read on to find out what they’ve been up to, and a special announcement about St Jude’s Rotary Specialist, Laura!
WORLD CLEANUP DAY
St Jude’s participated in World Cleanup Day, a globally recognised initiative that mobilises local communities to rid their streets of waste and dispose of rubbish responsibly.
Rubbish pollution is a huge problem in Tanzania, with little formal regulating or waste disposal. On World Cleanup Day, 16 members of our Interact and Rotaract clubs assembled bright and early in Moshono, where Sisia Primary Campus is located, and filled nine industrial-sized garbage bags with waste found along the roadside.
Members of the team remarked that they felt happy to contribute positively to the local community and the environment. They made sure to have funat the same time, competing amongst themselves to see who could collect the most rubbish!
END POLIO NOW WALK
World Polio Day is commemorated annually on October 24. Polio, a preventable disease, remains prominent in parts of Africa. Despite intermittent weather conditions, Rotary, Rotaract and Interact groups from around Arusha walked six kilometres to raise awareness and funds to end polio. St Jude’s Founder, Gemma Sisia, joined the walk with our Interactors and Rotaractors.
“It was wonderful to see our school represented by so many passionate students and staff, in solidarity with Arusha’s strong Rotary community,” Gemma said.
DISTRICT GOVERNOR VISIT
Hot on the heels of the End Polio Now Walk, came a visit to Arusha from Rotary District Governor, Sharmilla Bhatt. DG Sharmilla Bhatt attended the Rotary Club of Arusha’s meeting on October 29, to which St Jude’s Earlyactors received an invitation.
At the meeting, Earlyactors performed their original sustainability song, titled, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, for the Rotarians. The performance received a standing ovation!
“Rotarians and the District Governor joined us to sing the chorus, we taught them the words. They all told us we had done a good job to make such a nice song!” Theresia, an Earlyactor in Standard 6, said.
PAUL HARRIS FELLOWSHIP
In the presence of Earlyactors and fellow Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Arusha, our very own Rotary Specialist, Laura, was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by DG Sharmilla Bhatt.
At 27 years old, Laura is the second-youngest Rotarian in District 9211 and, since arriving in Arusha in March, has made a significant contribution to the Rotary community – hence her nomination for the fellowship by the Rotary Club of Arusha.
Paul Harris Fellowships recognise individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Laura now joins the ranks of notable figures, including past United States Presidents, astronauts and philanthropists, who have received the honour!
“I was shocked and humbled on being awarded the Paul Harris Fellow. To have been recognised for my contribution in such a short span of time is really touching.”
“This gives me a level of credibility when talking to Rotarians anywhere. It validates my contribution to Rotary.”
ST JUDE’S DAY GIVING
Each year at our St Jude’s Day celebrations, students and their families donate small household goods to local orphanages and community centres, who also support some of Arusha’s most vulnerable people. It is a chance for our students to give thanks through service for the benefits they reap at St Jude’s.
On November 2, Earlyactors, secondary students and members of staff visited the centres to distribute their gifts.
Sayuni, also an Earlyactor in Standard 6, expressed joy at being able to give back to the community.
“It felt good [to give gifts] because it taught me how to help other people who are in need. It was fun because we spent time with children in the orphanages, answering their questions and encouraging each other to study hard,” she said.
Our students love giving back to their community. Give them a hand up by making a donation to St Jude’s.
Diana and Abrahamani are St Jude’s new school prefects. As Head Girl and Head Boy, they personify the school’s core values: respect, responsibility, honesty and kindness, and are already making a difference as young leaders.
Both students joined St Jude’s as Standard 1 students in 2006, so they are well versed in what it takes to lead by example.
“A good leader is confident, honest and fair. A leader who favours the few cannot lead well. It Is a privilege to help lead my fellow students.” Diana said.
“It is true that St Jude’s values have taught us how to represent our peers. We understand that facing challenges is a part of leadership, and we are learning to solve problems in a diplomatic way,” Abrahamani added.
During their one year term as school leaders, Diana and Abrahamani have grand plans to increase student involvement in extracurricular activities, knowing that these programs give students the opportunity to enhance life skills and broaden their networks.
“We expect that through our leadership, more students will become involved in sports, essay competitions and motivate students to become involved with the many clubs on campus.”
“Such activities may motivate students in their studies also, and help them improve physical activity for overall health,” the students agreed.
Diana and Abrahamani explained that they are inspired by student leaders who had come before them to apply for the school’s top democratically elected positions.
“We know that we can do a good job, just as those before us did. We also have a lot of support from academic staff. The teachers encourage us to try our best,” Abrahamani said.
“Mr Mcharo [Smith Secondary Campus Headmaster] in particular motivates us. He is a good listener and helps in every way he can. He works very hard to make sure our feedback is addressed,” Diana shared.
“As for me, I have learnt to be more confident. I can speak in front of large audiences, and even to groups of teachers when representing the students. It is very empowering,” she added.
“In my case, the experience is teaching me to mature,” Abrahamani said.
“I know that we have the potential to be leaders not only in our school community, but to be inspiring role models for the wider community as well.”
