Africa Part 1: St Judes

About eight years ago I went along to the University of WA hear a talk by a young Australian woman named Gemma Sisia. With the mission of “Fighting Poverty through Education”, Gemma and her friends had founded a school for the poorest of Tanzania’s children, funded entirely by direct sponsorship – the School of St Jude in Arusha <www.schoolofstjude.org>. I was so inspired by what they were doing that I’ve been sponsoring a child and a teacher at the school ever since. So when the news came that some friends (including Leonie and Steve from last year’s Saronic cruise, and Andy and Cherry, owners of our ‘summer residence’) were organising a two week trip to Africa that included a stay at St Judes, it was impossible to resist. I could fly from Istanbul and join the safari in Nairobi. In reality it was even better as their Perth flight and mine from Turkey connected in Dubai - what a pleasure (and a relief) to meet all the crew in the airport!
 

For some reason I had imagined we’d be roughing it a bit, and was quite taken aback by the elegance of the Eka Hotel in Nairobi, where we enjoyed the first of many fine meals and very comfortable beds. I met those of the group who were friends of friends, including Hazel, a British New Zealander and Special Ed teacher who was a delightful room-mate for the rest of the trip. So now my worry was no longer surviving the dangerous streets of Nairobi, but salvaging something fit to wear from the shabby boat clothes that now comprise my wardrobe. Fortunately a solution soon presented itself in a local enterprise, Kazuri Beads, where a group of women craft and sell beautiful painted ceramic jewellery. A few gorgeous necklaces would distract from my faded T shirts and appalling footwear. The Eka Hotel also gave Steve, Neil and I the opportunity to sample a couple of African beers for Terry, in absentia.

Our first full day in Kenya was very full indeed. We started out at the Giraffe Centre, a refuge where we were able to interact with and learn about these extraordinary animals. By ‘interact’, I actually mean that we were encouraged to 'kiss' the giraffes by offering them food pellets from our mouths. This is nowhere near as revolting or unhygienic as it sounds – giraffes have antiseptic saliva as an adaptation to eating the viciously spiny acacia trees, and their tongues are fine-tuned to wrap delicately around a morsel of food. Giraffe-kissing was quite a sensual experience, and not one I’d ever really thought of adding to the bucket list!

Next up we caught the one hour daily window  of epic cuteness when the baby elephants are fed at  David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. Elephants that have lost their mothers through poaching, accident or disease are rescued and brought to the centre where they are treated, reared with one-to-one attention, then reintroduced to a wild herd. Hazel sponsored a baby named Sokotei who had just been brought in and was desperately trying to become part of the group.

Sokotei's first day

Finally we headed out to Karen Blixen House, the beautiful old homestead of the author of "Out of Africa", now a museum where it is quite easy to imagine Kenya's colonial past. The district is still named "Karen" in honour of a woman who had a much more enlightened and generous attitude to the African people than most, founding schools, hospitals and farming enterprises for the workers on her farm and the local people.

We concluded an amazing day with an equally amazing dinner at "Carnivore" restaurant, where meats of every kind are roasted over a huge fire-pit and served with delicious sauces and condiments to complement each type. I think each of us consumed his or her own weight in beef, pork, lamb, chicken and turkey, with the more adventurous trying crocodile, ostrich and certain choice body parts of other animals. Quantities of medicinal Dawa helped with the superhuman feats of digestion required throughout the evening and well into the night.

Bright and early next morning  (skipping the bacon at breakfast) we were packed up ready for the drive to St Judes, across the Tanzanian border in Arusha. Out of the rarefied atmosphere of hotels and restaurants, you start to feel you are really in Africa, with flat-topped acacia trees, patches of dense forest vegetation, ramshackle villages and especially people walking everywhere, even in the middle of nowhere. I only had a brief impression of Arusha itself, a confused mix of fine houses, rough shacks, modern offices, sprawling markets, mud-brick huts ..??? Then we were off down a muddy pot-holed road that led to ... a set of handsome buildings in beautiful garden surroundings, the School of St Jude!

  Gemma greeted us personally, and Nathan, a young Aussie volunteer on the Visitors' Team, helped us to settle in and introduced us to a group of Year 5 students who were our tour guides. And what impressive guides they were! Fluent in English, Swahili and often another language as well, the kids were bright, knowledgeable and extremely proud of their school. I had an opportunity to visit Mr Peter Manjalla, the Principal of the primary school, whom I have helped to sponsor for eight years. He is a warm and welcoming personality, obviously loved by the students; I was moved to see that he had a photo of me with one of my Year 12 classes, pinned on his noticeboard.

St Judes has been built and runs entirely on donations and sponsorship. It has grown to include primary and secondary campuses and facilities for boarding. Nearly 2000 children now attend the school, and as you might imagine, this has huge spin-offs for the local economy. St Judes tries to employ Tanzanians wherever possible, as teachers, house parents, gardeners, cooks, cleaners, security, health workers, maintenance staff, bus drivers, mechanics etc etc, and food and other products are sourced locally. It was awesome to see the place in action at last, and to get a sense of the ripple effect it has on the community. We enjoyed dinner in the dining hall with the students that evening - good nutrition and health have been a cornerstone of education at St Judes from the outset, and it was great to see kids full of energy and vigour, but restrained by good manners. We stayed in pleasant rooms in the visitors' quarters, with the one privilege the students don't have - hot showers!

An excellent breakfast was provided for us by Mr Peter, a cook who has been at St Judes from the very start, then we had a chance to talk with Gemma about some aspects of the school: the strong competition for places - children have to show academic potential but they also have to meet the criteria for extreme poverty; in an effort to spread the benefits to as many families as possible, no siblings are eligible. Gemma spoke of their policy of welcoming visitors and personally thanking all donors, and the way this has produced unexpected benefits; she told us about future projects, in particular a community service program for graduates of the school to give back to the community (for example, as maths, science and English teaching assistants at local government schools, or working in St Judes' visitors program) and the huge challenge of finding support for their graduates to attend college or university. We were in total awe at what this woman and her supporters have envisioned and achieved in ten years!

Our first stop was a Masai village to see the choir that they had established. After a traditional greeting and performance, we were invited to dress up in colourful cloths and beads to join in. We ladies learned the art of ululation and our senior traveller - Bibi (Grandmother)Ruth was the hit of the day: her eighty-six years didn't stop her from dancing or from catching the eye of the chief. More of the Masai in the next blog ...

Bibi Ruth with the oldest women of the tribe

Next we set off to the local government school, accompanied by one of the St Judes drivers who attended that school himself. He told us that when he was there they didn't even have a school building, but sat with their teacher and a single blackboard under a big tree. We met Mrs Anna, the school Principal, and learned about some of the challenges facing government schools. When asked what single thing would make the most difference to the school, she said, "Books, textbooks", and this was clearly in evidence when we visited a classroom. In a class of over fifty children, groups of four kids were sharing one well-worn, dated English comprehension text, the answers rubbed out and rewritten multiple times. All children are supposed to receive a primary education, though it is a challenge to convince some tribal people that kids should be in school rather than tending a valuable heard of cattle. There is a shortage of trained teachers, and a massive shortage of resources. The biggest disadvantage is that entry to secondary school is competitive as there are far fewer places than children. Furthermore, secondary education is conducted in English, and few children receive good enough training in English to pass the tests or to cope in secondary school. Our guide told us that he had studied desperately but had not gained entry into highschool; only one boy from his entire school managed to make it. 

Next up was St Judes secondary campus, another fine set of buildings in a beautiful setting - evidence of Gemma's belief that these children should have the best possible education. While the rest of the group attended a music lesson and toured the school, I finally got to meet my sponsored student,  Peris, and travelled on a school bus with her to her home in Arusha town to meet her family. Before we left, Nathan had told me a great story about the family. Peris had been helping her father to learn English, and he had bought himself a dictionary and a textbook to improve. This had enabled him to get a good job as a safari camp driver, and the family had been able to move to a better house - a two room concrete place instead of a mud brick hut. Peris was now helping her three young sisters with their studies, in particular with English which would give them a much better chance of getting into secondary school The ripple effect of St Judes - Fighting Poverty through Education - could not be more clearly illustrated.

The bus trip through the narrow, crowded streets of the township was an education in itself. Children and chickens in about equal numbers scrambled around a maze of gardens and makeshift homes. Tiny businesses were everywhere - shoe-makers, auto mechanics, sellers of everything . Peris' house was down a narrow potholed lane from which I thought the bus would never escape. Her beautiful mother welcomed us with spiced tea and donuts, and we had a very nice afternoon as I met her father and sisters and we chatted with the help of Peris and one of the teachers who accompanied us. I was quite overwhelmed to meet these lovely people and to hear about what a difference St Judes has made to their lives. Peris' goal is to study accounting and finance, as she has a talent in this field and believes she can make a difference to her community and her country by helping to foster business. Of course Terry approves strongly of goals like this and we are giving some thought to how we might help in the future.

Peris with her family

Next up we set off with Safaris-R-Us for the Serengeti - more soon, with amazing pictures!