You might think the annual graduations are the highlight of the academic calendar for powerhouse educator Gemma Sisia. The three schools she created in northern Tanzania now celebrate some 200 graduates each year, many of them bound for university.
But you would be wrong.
“I love our graduations, but what gives me an even bigger thrill is running into school alumni professionally,” Gemma says. “It might be in a hospital or a bank or a shop. Seeing them out in the world contributing and making a living is wonderful.
“Ten graduates from our inaugural graduating class of 60 in 2015 are now doctors. Many more are still in university from graduating classes since. We have accountants, teachers, engineers, IT and marketing experts – one was even named the best safari driver in Tanzania in 2023. But our alumni are still young; their impact is only just starting to be seen and will only grow with time.”
Gemma is no stranger to UNE audiences since earning a Graduate Diploma in Education with us and, later, a UNE Distinguished Alumni Award. An AM (Member of the Order of Australia) recognised her service to the international community through the establishment of The School of St Jude in 2002 that offers free student scholarships to bright Tanzanians. New England people, church and community groups like Rotary have long been among its biggest supporters.
“Australian support represents 92% of our total revenue – supporting 1,800 students across three schools and two boarding campuses,” says Gemma. “But we also have about 150 alumni in Tanzania now donating, too. About 97% of our graduates go on to tertiary education and, so far, over 800 St Jude’s graduates are either at uni with our support [currently 420 students across 46 universities in 10 countries] or have graduated and are now in the workforce, making a positive impact on their family, community and country.”
And, to think, it all started when an idealistic 16-year-old schoolgirl watched a Live Aid concert on her family’s property outside Armidale.
“I remember sitting in front of the TV on the farm and seeing the scenes of the famine in Ethiopia and wishing I could hand food out of the back of a truck. That was the ignorance of youth.”
But the determination to help some of the world’s poorest people never left her. “After that, all I wanted to do was to go to Africa.”
Becoming a doctor to deliver medical care was her first ambition, but Gemma would later add the teaching qualification to her science degree, after meeting a Catholic nun running a school in Uganda that desperately needed maths/science teachers.
“The diploma at UNE was the best thing I ever did, because it was my ticket to Africa, and if I had not done that Dip Ed, I would never have started St Jude’s,” Gemma says. “I was respected in the village as a teacher who wanted to build a school, although I was only 23.
“And while I didn’t become a doctor myself, I am producing doctors and health professionals – nurses, pharmacists, radiologists and dentists – who are having a bigger impact across Tanzania. Most were the first in their family to complete secondary schooling, let alone a university degree.”
All must pass an entrance exam and poverty test – many come from extreme poverty and four St Jude’s students, on average, lose a parent each month – but the schools were founded on the philosophy that education is the right of all children and their best defence.
Gemma with her family
Since 2015, almost 100% of St Jude’s students have graduated, compared to the national average of 29%. The policy to give only one child from each family a scholarship means families can more easily fund their other children to attend (fee-paying) government schools, and ensures the benefits of education are shared, flowing through entire families and communities.
“Many of our students teach their siblings and parents and aunties and uncles how to speak and read basic English, which helps with their employment prospects,” Gemma says. “Our secondary students also run private tutoring businesses through the school holidays.
“We do an exit poverty test in year 12. If the child enrolled with us in primary school, 90% of them would not get a scholarship if they were to apply again, because their financial situation has improved.”
Not surprisingly, demand for school places is high – St Jude’s received 6,000 applications for 200-plus scholarships in January. And the successful students rarely forget their privilege.
“Our Beyond St Jude’s program has been running 10 years and sees year 12 graduates volunteering for a year of community service within government schools,” Gemma said. “In the past decade, our Community Service Volunteer Teachers have taught over 180,000 students in more than 170 schools. The theory is that the only reason they have had a free education is because someone has sacrificed to put them through St Jude’s. It’s their opportunity to say thanks and this program is now so successful that it’s selective.”
Today, St Jude’s schools employ 350 local staff – 98% of them Tanzanians – and their success stories are just as impressive. For example, the leader of its transport department is an alumnus who studied engineering at university and now oversees the maintenance and schedules of the school’s 30+ buses.
Raising the $10 million it costs to operate St Jude’s annually is a big mission, but Gemma’s country upbringing, her faith and personal ethos equip her well for the task. “I believe you can do anything if you just don’t give up,” she said. “Every negative experience is a blessing in disguise because it teaches you something.”
Follow the links to donate or spread the word about St Jude’s.
