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Visit to the School of St Jude

Today we visited the School of St Jude, which is a few kilometres outside of Arusha, a regional area at the base of Mt Kilimanjaro.

The School of St Jude was set up a few years ago by young woman from Guyra NSW, to provide education to those most needy in the greater Arusha area.

Gemma Sisia and a number of others set up the school with the support of Rotary International - and it all began with a $10 donation.

Today the school provides free education to 1200 students up to Year Seven as well as free boarding facilities for 700 students. 

The criteria to get into the school is strict; a child must be intelligent, only one child is accepted from each home and the home they come from must be no more than two rooms in size, have no electricity, no glass windows and it must have a dirt floor.

Today we went to the home of a little 9 year old girl who had seven siblings and an alcoholic father.  The home had no food and no water.  If ever there was a case for DOCS in the whole wide world, that would be it.

We took a bag of maize to the next door neighbour to ensure the children at least received some food.  Whilst Gemma was providing whatever support she could to those children, the greatest hope was education for that little girl.

If ever there was a case to have Australian aid go directly to help people in disadvantaged countries, then the School of St Jude must be at the head of the queue.

I want to thank Pacific Brands (BONDS) for donating 1200 pairs of socks to the School of St Jude - that sort of donation is very Australian.

Joe

Click here to find out more about the School of St Jude

Click here to watch the Australian Story feature on the School of St Jude

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