The School of St. Jude

I had the opportunity to attend the District Conference for our Rotary district, 5690. It is at those conferences that I have had an opportunity to hear about incredible people doing incredible things.

This year was no exception. When I arrived yesterday, Gemma Sisia, an Aussie, was already speaking about her school, The School of St. Jude, which is located in Tanzania. A daughter of a sheepherder, after graduating from college, she went to Africa to teach. She saw the vast need for a quality education for the poorest of the poor in Tanzania, and she decided to do something about it. At age 24, she began the process of fundraising, including asking Rotary clubs for assistance. The Rotary clubs responded big-time, including traveling to Tanzania to construct buildings for the school.

Her first year, in 2002, she only had three students, and one teacher in one classroom, but now, nine years later, she has 1500 students on three campuses with 800+ boarding students. Yes, that number is right - 1500 students!!! It is an amazing, uplifting story that can be found at this URL: http://www.schoolofstjude.co.tz She named the school after St. Jude, the patron saint for hopeless situations. After hearing about the area where the school is located, I believe it was appropriately named.

I am constantly amazed at the stories I hear from Rotarians around the world. There are so many good things going on . . . spread the word!