David Dobney R.C. Essendon North

As an ambassador for St Jude’s School in Tanzania East Africa, we offer your Rotary club an insight into the Rotary sponsored successful School of St Jude, as a guest speaker and power point presentation.

Commenced by Gemma Sisia 20 years ago, this Australian teacher from Armidale NSW set out to provide bright underprivileged primary students with a free quality private school education.

The R.C. clubs of Armidale and Gosford NSW provided the initial funding to commence a school with 3 primary students, RAWCS built the initial classrooms and living dormitories. Today there are three (3) levels of schooling, primary, secondary and university provided, with 1800 enrolled students. School graduates are now doctors, civil engineers, pharmacists, teachers, radiologists, dietitians and economists; plus trades builders etc.

Located at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, this story is a remarkable one, which thanks to Rotary and other philanthropic ongoing donors has changed the lives of many African youngsters who would otherwise not have even had a primary school education and would have been consigned to an uneducated life of tending to subsistence agriculture.