Classrooms – learning on the job

Over the years of building classrooms in Tanzania, a developing country, the building materials and the builders’ skills have improved. The paint lasts longer, the floors survive thousands more foot steps, the render on the walls can cope with posters and charts and the blackboards remain black!



At first, the School shipped donated desks and chairs from Australia, but now all furniture is made locally. This way the School can ensure the furniture is the right height for the students and they are creating huge job opportunities for people in the local village and, therefore, the ripple effect is enormous.



The School also believes that staff and students will enjoy coming to school and will want to work hard and with pride for their school and themselves if they have harmonious surroundings. For this reason the School has gone to a lot of trouble to plant trees and grow gardens and lawns around the classrooms. Of course, it’s not all aesthetic - the greenery keeps down the dust and holds off the heat … to a certain extent!

By sponsoring classrooms at the School of St Jude, you are helping to pay for the bricks, cement, steel, wood, paint, render, corrugated iron sheets, building tools and fundis (bricklayers, carpenters, steel workers, builders, painters, cleaners, etc) wages. There is a maximum of 10 sponsors for each classroom – there are many people involved in building a classroom!

So, you can see how valuable your contribution is to the development of the school. When you give to the School of St Jude, you are joining a global team of wonderful people who realise that the fight against poverty starts with education. You can stay in touch with the School by newsletters, the School website and this blog – and feel the immensity of your contribution to many lives.


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