,,

St Jude’s is a charity-funded school providing over 1,800 students with a free, high-quality education. What is St Jude’s?

St Jude’s is located in Arusha, Tanzania, East Africa. According to the most recent Tanzanian Household Budget Survey (2007), 12.9 million Tanzanian’s live below the poverty line. That’s 30% of the population. Where is it?

Good-quality education is scarce and sadly St Jude’s is not able to accommodate everyone. The number of parents and children who apply for a placement goes to show how desperate Tanzanians are to break the cycle of poverty.

With thousands of applicants annually, less than 1% will become St Jude’s students.

Without an education, children face a continuing cycle of poverty, hard labour and sickness.

So, what is St Jude’s doing about it?

After university Gemma Rice (now Sisia) left her family in Australia to volunteer as a teacher in Uganda.

Gemma came to the belief that a good education should be a right and NOT a privilege. She believed education was the best way to fight poverty.

After receiving a piece of land from her father-in-law, Gemma promised to build a small school in Arusha, Tanzania to help break the cycle of poverty that grips the nation.

Founded with the assistance and dedication of Rotary Clubs and friends, the building of St Jude’s began in 2001.

St Jude’s first classrooms were built by Rotarians and volunteers from Gemma’s home district in Northern NSW, Australia.

Rotary Working Groups were instrumental in all building construction during these early years.

The very first Rotary Matching Grant for example, was used to build the first water tank erected at St Jude’s.

And many of our St Jude’s fleet of buses were purchased with the generous help of various Rotary Clubs and Matching Grants.

From humble beginnings with one volunteer teacher and three students in 2002, St Jude’s began to grow…

…and grow and grow !

Gemma believed that regardless of skin colour, country of birth, religion or tribe, every child deserves the best.

And so, good classrooms were built, qualified local teachers employed, quality education resources acquired and a safe school environment developed so that both students and staff could thrive.

Now in 2014, St Jude’s provides a free, high-quality education to over 1,800 of the poorest children, with boarding rooms provided for over 1,200.

Take a few moments to imagine how you would feel if you were unable to provide for your child as you had hoped to.

Wouldn’t you feel helpless and hopeless?

The most recent World Bank statistics (2010) show that 18.8% of the Tanzanian population received a primary education with this percentage falling to just 12.9% receiving a secondary education. In Tanzania, the total number of school years is expected to be just nine at most.

Imagine having to send your children to your local government school: One teacher for more than 70 students A handful of textbooks for each class to share No morning tea and no lunch

A school with few teaching resources and overcrowded classes

And then you hear about The School of St Jude!

A school where your child will not only receive a FREE, high-quality education, but also…

nourishing food and fresh water…

annual medical checks…

a fleet of 23 buses transporting students and staff everyday…

libraries filled with books, computer labs…

… an opportunity for increasing knowledge and understanding…

… boarding houses with electricity and running water that provide a safe, hygienic place to live, study and play.

A school where passion and desire to challenge yourself are celebrated!

Imagine receiving the news that your child has a place at St Jude’s. A school that gives a completely FREE yet HIGH-QUALITY primary and secondary education…

...a school where your child will be encouraged every step of the way on their journey to becoming a responsible and caring citizen of Tanzania.

Students qualify for entry to St Jude’s by living in poverty and possessing strong academic potential.

St Jude’s blends the best of Tanzanian and international teaching methods to enable St Jude’s students to develop critical thinking and high moral values.

Ministry of Education StaffPresident of United Republic of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete Although The School of St Jude does not receive any funding from the Tanzanian Government, St Jude’s enjoys a positive and supportive relationship with Ministry staff.

St Jude’s is a Christian based school, however students and staff of all faiths are welcomed.

St Jude’s does not discriminate on gender.

St Jude’s students are encouraged to celebrate their cultural richness and diversity.

St Jude’s is educating future community leaders; all students are exposed to positive male and female role models in an environment of mutual respect.

Respect, responsibility, honesty and kindness are highly valued and embedded into our education process.

St Jude’s provides employment for over 450 Tanzanians — teachers, administrators, cleaners, cooks, gardeners, bus drivers, tradesmen and maintenance staff.

St Jude’s purchases the essential goods required to run the school from local people. The positive economic ripple effect is wide spread.

And on top of all of this….

We love visitors!

St Jude’s has a very active visitor and organised tour group program.

We have 30 comfortable rooms waiting for you.

You will receive the warmest of welcomes when you journey to the heart of the world’s most diverse and richly cultured continent by joining one of our tour groups.

Visitors can expect a truly unique experience that gives you the opportunity to meet our students and staff.

While in Arusha, you can also experience memorable safari parks, including the Serengeti and UNESCO World-Heritage Ngorongoro Crater.

Arusha is also the entry point for a trek up Mt Kilimanjaro or Mt Meru and a close flight to the exotic Tanzanian island paradise of Zanzibar.

So what does the future hold?

The School of St Jude currently provides a free, high-quality education from Primary Class 1 through to Secondary Form 6 (Yr 12 or 0-level).

Our first students will graduate from Form 6 in 2015.

St Jude’s is committed to providing a sustainable environment that ensures excellent educational resources that support our teachers and students.

We are also committed to ensuring that our team of local Tanzanian teachers receive the ongoing support of international teacher mentors and ESL specialists.

We must also ensure our students not only complete secondary school, but we want them to have the opportunity to go onto tertiary education/training within Africa as well…

…So that St Jude’s will enable both current and future students to experience the joys of living as fulfilled adults.

We are so blessed with the wonderful supporters from around the globe who share in our hopes, aspirations and dreams. Together we stand shoulder to shoulder in the shared belief that education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.

St Jude’s donors, sponsors, fundraisers and supporters come from all walks of life: from schools, community groups, service clubs, neighbourhood friends, businesses, Rotarians and individuals. The one thing they share is the desire to see a better future for the students of St Jude’s.

Funding the ongoing costs that are involved in running our school Ensuring that we have new sponsors and donors for the 150 more students that we enroll each year Increasing the number of fundraisers and speakers we have to spread the word about St Jude’s Our challenges now

How you can help Personally sponsor a ‘student in boarding’ package for $120 per month

How you can help Personally sponsor a ‘student and teacher’ package for $110 per month

Make a donation of any amount — $10 will buy textbooks or a basket of carrots! How you can help

Raise awareness… How you can help

Fundraise for one of these five areas: 1.School Uniforms 2.Food 3.Bus maintenance 4.General maintenance 5.Teacher resources How you can help

Rotarians regularly organise functions during Gemma & Kim’s fundraising tours. How you can help

You can educate fellow Rotarians about The School of St Jude. How you can help

Stay for 7 nights free of charge as a Rotarian, sponsor or donor. Visit us

Organise your Rotary group to visit us at The School of St Jude. Visit us

Have a look at our job vacancies section on our website. Become a volunteer

The School of St Jude is operated by an Australian-based charity, The East Africa Fund Incorporated (CFN 16123) Our donation and sponsorship programs are based in Australian dollars (AUD) For an approximate guide to your currency's exchange rate against the Australian dollar, visit Other currency?

All donation and sponsorship contributions over AUD $2.00 are tax deductible when payment is made via St Jude’s website or to tax-deductible bank accounts advised by us. US-based donors and sponsors can support our activities in a tax- efficient way through payment to The School of St Jude – American Fund at the King Baudouin Foundation United States (KBFUS). NZ-based donors and sponsors can support our activities in a tax- efficient way through Rotary New Zealand World Community Services (RNZWCS). UK-based donors and sponsors can make their contribution eligible for Gift Aid through Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services (LCVS). We ask for an ongoing commitment (preferably for at least 3 years) for our sponsorship programs. If you are unable to make such a commitment, we ask that you please consider making a one-off general donation. Tax deduction?

Get involved! Visit us at Website

The School of St Jude would like to thank Rotarians for assisting us from the very start!