What will we do this weekend?

Well, if you have gone to work at St Judes like many other long term volunteers, you might fancy a bit of sightseeing.

Rachel and Simon have described their recent weekend in the nearby Arusha National Park.

Simon says –

Arusha is actually quite close to most of Tanzania’s big game parks with Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara about a 3 hour drive away, and the Serengeti beyond that. Generally you do these over 3 or 4 days in one ‘safari loop’ as its called locally. As we didn’t want to do 3-4 hours each day in the car, plus the safari time, we opted for the local quieter option which would still get us to see some of the animals but being only 30 minutes away, was also going to allow us to relax and enjoy ourselves.

Source: Simon

As you can see, the animals were just what you might hope to see!

From where I am, it seems surreal to have these almost mythic African animals living so casually right on your doorstep. Here in Sydney, this is how I am used to seeing giraffes!

The giraffes at Taronga Zoo enjoy views of Sydney Harbour

The School of St Jude is located at the foot of Mt Meru which can be seen in this picture taken in the school grounds.

Source: Simon

Can you tell that I'm REALLY looking forward to our visit in September?




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Rotary Clubs make the difference!

Rotary Clubs have given huge support to the School of St Jude from the very beginning. This support comes in all sorts of ways.

• Donations – Rotary Clubs in several countries have supported a variety of fund-raising activities.
  
• Administration – Rotarians set up the East Africa Fund which allows contributions by Australians to be tax-free. That means that the Australian government is subsidising the school in a major way!
  
• Shipping – container loads of goods are shipped from Brisbane thanks to the work and money donated by local Rotary clubs.
  
• Physical work – the very first building work on the school site was done by a team of Rotary volunteers. Each year several groups of Rotary volunteers visit the school to contribute their labour and go on safari in the magnificent National Parks nearby.

Rotary visitors on safari

Gemma reports on ‘Operation Desks and Chairs’ for 17 Rotarians in September this year.

Measure twice, cut once!

We just pointed them in the direction of a wood pile, thrust tools into their hands and they churned out the components of 200 desks and chairs for the sponsored students who will start school next year.

Considering they had to deal with the glitches of third world living, such as intermittent electricity, it was a massive effort and they really worked hard to earn their 6-day safari.

Smiling satisfaction in a job well done!

And this is what will be made from the cut timber. Of course all the piece will fit together.

The great thing about a successful project like the School of St Jude is that people tell each other about it. Word spreads and support grows. And a few thousand children get a great education.