Young Hosts The School Of St Jude Founder

Gemma Sisia founded The School of St Jude in 2002.

Passionate community members and the Rotary Club of Young organised for Gemma Sisia, founder of The School of St Jude to visit Young recently.

Gemma, along with The School of St Jude graduate John Stanley, shared the incredible impact both the school and the Australians who support it has had on students, the local community and Tanzania as a whole.

“Australians have been supporting St Jude’s from the very beginning, and with graduates like John I’m now able to return to show the impact this support has had.”

“I’m so grateful for the reception we received in Young and to know that there are so many amazing people here that open their hearts to help us continue to increase this impact,” said Gemma.

“We know that educating just one child can lift the whole family from poverty so this means the school has greater impact.

We don’t just believe education changes lives, we actually see it happening.”

The school has grown to include three campuses housing a primary school and two high schools as well as boarding houses for high school students to board at during term.

The school provides free scholarships to its 1800 primary and seconday students every year.

The event was held at the Young Golf Club and was open to everyone, with close to 100 people attending to hear Gemma and John speak.

Ten years ago, the school launched the Beyond St Jude’s program, supporting graduates in tertiary education.

“This year alone we have more than 400 scholars attending 60 different universities internationally, and our alumni are emerging as role models that are not only contributing to their country but are the leaders of the future for Tanzania,” Gemma said.

90% of the school’s revenue has come from Australians and 97 cents in every dollar donated goes towards the operational running costs of the school.

Young local David Hamblin also sharedsome moments from when he and his family visited the school.