This article contains content that is written like an advertisement .(July 2021) |
The School of St. Jude | |
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Location | |
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Coordinates | 3°22′S36°4′E / 3.367°S 36.067°E |
Information | |
Type | Independent, boarding school, Non-governmental organization |
Motto | "Fighting Poverty Through Education" |
Denomination | Non-denominational |
Established | 2002 |
Employees | Over 270 local Tanzanian staff members and over 15 international volunteers |
Key people | Gemma Sisia (founder and director) |
Gender | Co-educational |
Enrolment | Approx 1,800 students |
Colour(s) | Navy, blue and yellow |
Nickname | St Jude's |
Website | schoolofstjude |
The School of St. Jude is a charity-funded school located in the city of Arusha, in the northern Arusha Region of Tanzania. With its three campuses, the school provides free primary and secondary education to children in the Arusha Region. It also provides board for over 1,000 students and employs over 270 local Tanzanian staff members. It was founded by Australian Gemma Sisia in 2002, based on the belief that education is the best way to fight poverty. [1]
The school was founded in 2002 by Australian Gemma Sisia, who dreamed of helping to end poverty in Africa. She named the school after St Jude, the patron saint of hopeless causes. [2] The school provides free education to over 1,800 girls and boys from the poorest families in the area. It is 100% charity-funded [3] and receives no government assistance from Tanzania or Australia. [4] 90% of the school's funding comes from Australian families, who signed up to sponsor a child or donate. [5]
Each year, the school selects approximately 150 new students who show academic promise, combined with genuine and demonstrable financial need. These girls and boys are then provided with international-standard education, accommodation, and three meals per day.
In 2015, the school's first graduating class, Form 6, finished within the top 10% in Tanzania. [6]
The school is situated across three campuses. The primary campus, along with the visitors center and administrative office, is located in the Moshono neighborhood of Arusha. Boarding facilities for primary students starting from Class 5 are situated a 15-minute walk away in the Moivaro neighborhood. The secondary school campus, which includes its own boarding accommodations and a 6-acre school farm, is situated about a 20-minute drive from the primary campus in the town of Usa River.
St. Jude's operates a fleet of 27 school buses, while two libraries house an extensive collection of over thirty thousand books, CDs, and DVDs. The students have access to various facilities including science labs, sports fields, computer rooms, and art studios. All students are provided with hot lunches and a daily snack. Boarding students additionally receive breakfast and dinner, resulting in approximately one million meals being served by the school annually. The institution employs a workforce of over 270 East African staff members and collaborates with more than 15 international volunteers hailing from various parts of the world. [7]
Girls make up over half of the school's student body, and this percentage was reached without the use of quotas. The school follows only two criteria in its recruitment: academic talent and a genuine financial need.
On the advice of Sisia's father, she contacted local Rotary clubs. Gemma and a family friend engaged members of local Rotary clubs in Australia, who brought local schools on board.
They put up a table in a shopping mall where volunteers sold $2 paper bricks representing the building works that needed financing. In a few months, they raised the necessary funds. Thus began the long-term partnership between The School of St Jude and Rotary.
Gemma engaged in speaking events at Rotary Clubs across Australia, which led to an increase in donors. In 2000, Armidale Central Rotary Club organized a group of 13 volunteers to travel to Tanzania and build the first block of classrooms.
In 2016, senior St Jude's students founded youth Rotary branches of their own. [8]
The secondary campus is named after the American Smith family, of the Gordon V. and Helen C. Smith Foundation, based in the Washington, D.C. area of the United States. Their connection to St Jude's came about after the family traveled together to Tanzania for a safari in 2004 and the tour guide took them to visit a local public school. The Smiths have a long history of supporting educational initiatives. After seeing classes with up to 120 students and few resources, they decided to support a nonprofit initiative providing educational opportunities in Tanzania. A couple of months later, family members returned to Arusha, visited a number of schools and decided to get involved with St Jude's. Their donation and personal involvement made it possible for St Jude's to extend its educational offering to the secondary school level.
In September 2016 the school announced that the American Friends of the School of St Jude, Tanzania, Inc. launched a new website. [9] St Jude’s U.S. fundraising efforts are officially recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity and the American Friends organization has been granted official tax-exempt status EIN 47-3077055.
As part of its fundraising and marketing activities, the school receives hundreds of visitors each year for day tours of the school grounds. Sponsors of students are encouraged to visit and participate in a home visit with their family. Up to 60 visitors can stay in hotel-style accommodation.
The school also offers special two- or three-week tours including safaris in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater national parks, excursions to see local tribes, and trips to Zanzibar.
Gemma Sisia (née Rice) was born on November 3, 1971. She spent her early years on a wool sheep property just outside Guyra in Northern New South Wales, Australia. [10] As the only daughter among the eight children of Sue and Basil Rice, Gemma had to learn how to keep up with her brothers when it came to mustering sheep and riding horses. Sue Rice still lives on the family property in Guyra and a number of her brothers still live in the area. Basil, Gemma's father, passed away in 2004. [11]
After completing secondary studies at St Vincent's College in Sydney, [12] Gemma decided to pursue a Bachelor of Science at University. She majored in Genetics and Biochemistry at Melbourne University [13] and the University of Northern Territory [14] where she was awarded a First Class degree. Gemma concluded her tertiary studies with a Diploma of Education through the University of New England in Armidale.
At 22 years old, Gemma decided to devote time to volunteer with the poor in Africa. She traveled to Uganda, East Africa, to work for three years as a volunteer teacher. This experience led to her interest in access to quality education.
Upon returning to Australia, Gemma began fundraising to help underprivileged children in Uganda complete their schooling. She raised enough money to start an official fund to invest in the education of East Africa's poorest children. After realising that the funds were not being distributed properly, she returned to East Africa to manage the money herself.
While working in Uganda, Gemma went on a holiday to neighboring Tanzania. It was on safari that she met Richard Sisia, her safari driver, who would later become her husband. [15] In 1998 Daniel Sisia, Richard's father and Gemma's father in law, gifted her a small plot of land in Arusha to build a school for the poor. [16] Gemma started building The School of St Jude on this land with a mission to help the poorest children receive an education. The school opened in 2002 with three sponsored students [17] and has consistently grown
In 2000, Gemma was awarded a Sapphire Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International. [18] Gemma's autobiography, St Jude's, was published by Pan Macmillan Australia in 2007 and remained on the Best Sellers List for over two months. Also in 2007, Gemma's achievements were honored by an Order of Australia medal. [19] Gemma's story has been featured twice in the ABC television documentary program Australian Story , in 2005 and a follow-up in 2009. In 2012, Gemma was named one of The Australian Financial Review and Westpac's 100 Women of Influence, nominated in the Global category. She was also a finalist in New South Wales for Australian of the Year.
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