School of St. Jude

The School of St Jude was established by Richard and Gemma Sisia in 2002. The original two acres of land on which the first classrooms were built was granted to the school by Richard’s father and his family.

The name “St Jude” was given to the school because St Jude is known in Christian circles as “the patron saint of hopeless causes”. Trying to build a school from scratch with no real expertise or resources surely qualified as a “hopeless cause”! However, two decades later, The School of St Jude not only educates approx 1800 students across three campuses (with over 1200 of them boarding), but also provides tertiary education to over 300 students and employment to over 350 local Tanzanian staff.

100% of the students get a totally free education, thanks to the thousands of supporters around the world.  These supporters not only give financially to the school, but they also give their personal time at the school, thereby allowing more Tanzanian children the opportunity to receive a free, quality education.

St Jude’s loves visitors, so there is a team of staff available who are solely dedicated to hosting guests at the school. For a unique African experience we recommend spending at least a few days at the school. You will be provided with your own personalized itinerary whilst at the school because there is so much to see and experience!