The STEVE SINNOTT FOUNDATION
OUT OF AFRICA James Cameron-Wilson, is a writer and film critic affected by recession. He describes here how a trip to Tanzania did much to lift his spirits. I was depressed. After forty years reviewing films for a number of magazines, the economic downturn had robbed me of my bread-andbutter. I was turning into a recluse. Even the idea of travel more than a little terrified me. I obviously needed a change. On a whim I agreed to visit my friend Kim at the school where she works in Africa. An hour’s walk from Arusha, in northern Tanzania, it is named after the patron saint of lost causes - St Jude - and was set up in 2002 by Gemma Sisia to cater for the poorest children in the area. While there, I was invited to visit the home of one of its students, the seven-year-old Rashid Nurdin. I had no idea what to expect, but even my wildest assumptions were way off the mark. Rashid lives with his mother, father and two brothers. However, as their home consists of just one small room, Rashid has to sleep in a communal bedroom in the village. The word ‘village’ may be a tad misleading, as the community spreads out from Arusha in an unending honeycomb of ramshackle dwellings connected by dirt tracks. Cattle, goats and dogs wander where they will, and the sewage system comprises of a foulsmelling trench running behind the houses. Like so many things for the Tanzanian people, dignity comes at a price too high to contemplate. Yet these city dwellers - who have left the countryside to find work - are in many respects luckier than their rural cousins. In Arusha they have kerosene lamps, gaudy Western commodities and even access to a basic mobile phone (cost: US $1) which has to be charged in the local store. In the bush, the Maasai women live in huts made of mud, with just slim apertures to allow in a minimum of mosquitoes - and light. Consequently, their homes are so dark that, in many cases, their eyesight has become dramatically compromised. There is not enough money in the world to solve the financial crisis in Africa with charity. But we can help the Africans to help themselves and that is what Gemma Sisia set out to do. The motto of her school is “Fighting Poverty Through Education” and from her own position of extreme penury, she set out to make a difference. Through sheer determination, stamina and a belief in her own potential, Gemma recruited friends and local businesses to build her dream. In just ten years, St Jude’s has mushroomed from an idea into three campuses serving 1,600 students, employing 500 staff. The statistics are intimidating. Now that the school has established itself in the community and is picking up the poorest and brightest kids from Arusha’s population of 1.2 million, St Jude’s has to sustain its objective. With 1,400,000 meals needed every year, the logistics are mind-bending and wallet-buckling. However, St Jude’s provides instant proof of where the money goes. Donors or sponsors are sent regular updates and photographs, monthly newsletters and hand-written notes from the students. 98
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percent of sponsors’ money goes to the students directly, in the form of education, meals and travel. Just 2% goes towards the cost of administration. In spite of the appalling poverty of Arusha, the omnipresent dust, the tumbledown dwellings and the proliferation of dead dogs on the highway, the atmosphere at the school is nothing but cheerful and upbeat. The students I talked to were always smiling and eager to practice their English. It’s hard to imagine how this beacon of education and optimism looked just a decade ago: a half-acre cornfield surrounded by scrubland and baked earth. Yet through the generosity of complete strangers, these children have been offered a sustainable future. Even so, the current students of St Jude’s are the lucky ones. There are still many, many thousands of children who have yet to secure a place, to find a sponsor or to eventually ensure themselves a fruitful place in Tanzanian society. Yet, the cost of helping them amounts to less than the price of a coffee a day. There, in the African bush, I found myself surrounded by a world of opportunity. Here were children from unimaginable poverty, fighting to make a better life for themselves. Here was true, unadorned synergy: the commitment of Kim, Gemma and their colleagues wedded with the hope and ambition of the children in their charge. Overnight, my own petty concerns had been replaced by an overwhelming admiration and wonder at their resolve to succeed. To find out more about St. Jude’s visit www.schoolofstjude.org Visit the discussion forum at www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk to comment on this article