The mission of The School of St Jude is to educate disadvantaged, bright students from the Arusha District to become moral and intellectual leaders in their country and for St Jude’s to thereby demonstrate educational leadership in Tanzania.
Thesituation
Poverty in Tanzania is endemic. Ranked 204 out of 230 nations in the world for GDP per capita, as a nation Tanzania is unable to provide its children with a quality education. The government school system is overstretched, under-resourced, and produces poor educational outcomes for Tanzanian society.
St Jude’s provides a free, high-quality education to children who — due to poverty and social pressures — would otherwise be unlikely to complete their schooling. Drawn from families who often live on less than $1.25 per day, the pupils of St Jude’s are shining examples of what students can achieve when they are given the opportunity to receive a quality education.
They are working towards a model that supports students through tertiary education and completing the mission to create the next generation of Tanzanian leaders.
The Rotary Club of Knox has been a regular supporter of the School of St Jude with regular donations to help put more children through school and improve the facilities. We have members that also make personal contributions including sponsorship of students.
Every year hundreds and thousands of communities, often with no warning, lose their homes, their possessions and their livelihoods. Every day they are faced with a battle for survival.
ShelterBox provide emergency shelter and vital supplies to support communities around the world overwhelmed by disaster and humanitarian crisis. beginning in 2000, they have responded to earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, landslides, typhoons and conflict, delivering emergency humanitarian aid to communities in need.
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Syria crisis, and the biggest storm to ever make landfall – Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines; were some of the largest humanitarian crises the modern world has ever seen. If there are families in need of emergency shelter, Shelter Box do everything they can to help them.
ShelterBox vision
A world in which all people displaced by disasters and humanitarian crises are rapidly provided with emergency shelter and vital aid, which will help rebuild their communities and lives.
ShelterBox missionTo rapidly provide emergency shelter and vital aid to stabilise, protect and support communities overwhelmed by disaster and humanitarian crisis.
The Rotary Club of Knox has sponsored a number of boxes and is proud to be a supporter of ShelterBox. who are at the forefront of international disaster relief, providing emergency shelter for the people who need it most.
In April 2020, Vanuatu has hit hard by Category 5 Cyclone Harold which devastated communities with up to 90% of buildings and houses either damaged or destroyed in some areas. We donated 10 Emergency Shelter Kits to support the efforts of ShelterBox Australia who do amazing work in disaster affected communities providing emergency supplies.
According to United Nations World Health estimates, wheelchairs are desperately needed around the world for millions of severely disabled children throughout under-resourced countries of the world.
Wheelchairs For Kids(WFK) is an organisation whose mission is to manufacture and distribute wheelchairs to some of these children assisting them with the means to raise them off the ground from where they are presently confined, and gain a new level of freedom and mobility.
These wheelchairs are locally designed specifically to conform with WHO guidelines. They are built specially for rough terrain, adjustable for the child’s size, with postural supports, head rest, harness, a waterproof cushion, tray, tool kit, plus a knee rug, and a knitted toy.
On delivery of the chairs to the receiving sites, agency and hospital personnel, therapists and individuals are involved in providing therapy in the field to ensure each ‘chair is correctly adjusted and fitted to the receiving child to ensure they are comfortable in their new chair.
Our club supports the efforts of WFK and most recently held a ‘wheelchair derby’ in conjunction with Bayswater West Primary School, where students raised funds through sponsorship by completing laps around a circuit in the playground using specially designed wheelchairs. The initiative was a great success, not only raising much needed funds for WFK but also awareness for the students about the needs of children just like them in under developed parts of the world.