Gemma Sisia left Australia for Africa
intending to be a nun. Instead, she fell in love, then discovered a new
purpose: educating some of the poorest children in Tanzania.
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| Gemma and Her Husband from Tanzania |
For
the country girl who left Australia with the idea of becoming a nun or
missionary, the graduation ceremony is the realisation of a dream to provide
free, quality education to some of the smartest, but poorest kids in Tanzania.
Opening with just three students in 2002, the School of St Jude has grown to
almost 2000 students of both sexes, three-quarters of them boarders, and 350
staff spread over two large campuses, making it one of the most successful
non-government schools in Africa. Thirty-one – just over half – of the
graduating class achieved distinctions in the recent exams.
Remarkably,
the whole enterprise has been achieved with no assistance from the Tanzanian or
Australian governments. Ninety per cent of the school's funding comes from
regular Australian families who signed up to sponsor a child, or to donate in
other ways. A large proportion of those families pledged their support after watching
an ABC Australian Story program on Gemma Sisia that aired in 2005. As the
producer of that episode, I've been invited back today as a special guest.
Every
one of the 61 students graduating is expected to go on to university and every
one of their sponsors – 70 of whom are also here from Australia – have vowed to
continue their financial support. One of them is Sharon Smith, 60, a Brisbane
businesswoman now on her second visit. After watching the program and hearing
Sisia speak at a fundraiser in Brisbane, she offered to sponsor ten St Jude
students. "I owned a childcare centre. I was making good money, I could
afford it," she says. "I get great satisfaction out of it."
The
children start here at the age of seven and graduate, if all goes well, at 20.
"It makes me happy to think that these children over here are getting a
similar education to my granddaughter in Australia and can do just as well as
anyone in the world now," says Smith. However, there are still some
funding issues at the school.
Around
150 of the students currently do not have a sponsor, and 165 are only
half-sponsored. growing up on a fine-wool merino farm outside Guyra, near
Armidale in northern NSW, Gemma Rice was a self-described "challenge
junkie". As the only girl in a family of eight children, she quickly
learnt to compete with her brothers when it came to mustering sheep and riding
horses. According to her mother, Sue Rice, she became fearless and fiercely
determined. "She was always very definite in her views, even as a little
girl," says Rice. "I don't think you could ever talk Gemma into or
out of anything."
To
say that Sue and her husband, Basil, who died in 2004, were a deeply religious
Catholic family would be an understatement. They converted their dining room
into a prayer room, complete with crucifix, candles and statues of Jesus. Out
in the paddocks, among the sheep, motorbikes and cattle dogs, they constructed
their own Stations of the Cross, depicting scenes from the crucifixion of
Christ. It was instilled in the children that there was more to life than just
having fun.
"My
parents put a huge emphasis on our education and I subconsciously absorbed
that," says Sisia. "In doing so, I felt that children from poor
families should also have access to a good education." From an early age,
it was always in the back of her mind that she'd like to become a nun. "I
was quite prepared to live in poverty and chastity," Sisia told me in an
interview at the property back in 2005. She discussed the idea with her school
principal, who thought she was perhaps "too headstrong" to be a nun,
and advised her to get a university qualification instead.
After
gaining a degree in biochemistry and genetics at Melbourne University – and,
for good measure, a diploma in education – Sisia, at 22 and on the advice of a
friend, set off for Uganda to work in a convent school. But the idea of
becoming a nun or missionary went astray just a few months after her arrival
when she took a safari on the Serengeti Plains in Tanzania. Her driver was one
Richard Sisia. "There's nothing like falling in love in the
Serengeti," she says now. "It's very romantic, with all the animals
and lions around."
In
the quiet, 27-year-old Tanzanian, she saw kindness, calmness, strength and a
sense of adventure. The attraction was mutual. "We loved each other
immediately," says Richard. "But I was scared to tell her anything
because I was employed by her, and my job was to show [her] animals, not talk
about love."
Back
at the convent in Uganda, Gemma tried to forget about the holiday romance.
She'd given Richard a deliberately vague address when she left him but, three
months later, he embarked on an 1100-kilometre quest to find her, travelling
for two days and two nights on a bus to reach the central Ugandan town of
Masaka.
After
three days spent asking around for the mzungu (white) woman, he found her at
the convent school. "I was like, 'Thank god I found her,' " he says.
"We had big hugs and talked. I spent three more days with her and we
talked about being together for life," he says. Gemma's notion of becoming
a nun dissolved.
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| Gemma and Her Brothers |
Explaining
to her family that she
was going to marry a Tanzanian and live her life in Africa wasn't so easy. They
pictured her carrying water on her head and living in a mud hut. Also, for Sue
Rice, the idea of her being with a local man was confronting. "That was
definitely a hard thing for mum to deal with," Sisia's brother Patrick
told Australian Story.
"Another country, another culture and, I suppose, the colour."
"We
were all worried about her but we prayed about it," Rice told me.
"And when she really did say she was going to marry him, it was a shock
because as a mother, you worry about your daughter's safety." She
maintains that Richard's skin colour never worried her; it was Africa that
disturbed her.
Sisia
had already started collecting $5 a month from friends and family members to
sponsor two girls at the convent school in Uganda. On visits home to Australia,
she spoke at Rotary clubs and churches about her experiences, with the result
that more and more people joined the sponsorship scheme. She began sending
money to other Ugandan schools, but was frustrated to learn that some of it was
going missing. An idea started to take shape in her head: why not start her own
school and so be sure the money was going where it was needed?
The
problem was solved when Richard's father, Daniel – a senior Masai man who'd
been educated by missionaries and become a vet – offered to donate a small
block of land. Though Westernised and middle class, he worked with the Masai
people in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area. "He said, 'Gemma, why
are you helping all these Ugandan kids when we've got much poorer children in
Tanzania?' " she recalls. " 'If I give you a piece of land, would you
build a school for the poor?' "
In
2000, Armidale Central Rotary Club sent over 13 volunteers to construct the
first block of classrooms. Richard and Gemma were married in a Masai-Catholic
ceremony at the school in 2001 and the School of St Jude opened its doors in
January, 2002. It was with a wry sense of humour that Gemma chose the name St
Jude: "St Jude is the patron saint of hopeless causes. A girl from Guyra
trying to build a school in Africa? That's a serious hopeless case!" The motto
"Fight poverty through education" was suggested by her mother.
Initially,
the school was staffed by an unlikely trio of volunteers: Sisia, who'd never
run a school; Angela Bailey, who at 19 had only just completed an early
childhood diploma in Sydney; and Kim Saville, 48, who'd previously worked as a
Sydney casting agent. "We got away with a lot in the early days because of
our naivety," says Saville.
The
school grew rapidly. Within
three years it had 500 students and was ranked third out of 204 schools in the
district. It employed 100 local staff, half of them teachers, and a team of
builders who were constantly adding extra classrooms. A $15 million stroke of
luck arrived in 2005 when American philanthropists Gordon and Helen Smith
visited Tanzania for a safari and decided to give their support to a local
school.
When
they got to St Jude, they knew they'd found the one they were looking for.
"Gemma wasn't here when we arrived, she was in Australia, but we were
impressed that the school was operating fine without her," says their
daughter, Cindy Skarbek. The Smiths offered to build a second St Jude campus in
Arusha, doubling the school's size.
Every
Saturday from August to December, hundreds of children line up at the school
gates to compete for one of the 150 places on offer each year at various
levels. To gain admission, there are just two criteria: the children must be
bright and they must be poor. A "poverty check" involves several
unscheduled visits to the child's house to check on their living conditions.
And while it is a Christian-based school, 20 per cent of the students are
Muslim and numerous tribes are represented. "Students are accepted based
on brains and poverty, not sex, tribe or religion," says Sisia.
Today,
every member of the teaching staff is Tanzanian. Students sit exams five times
a year and those who do not achieve grades of at least 70 per cent are unable
to stay at St Jude. It's a harsh policy, but one that's enforced not by Sisia
but by the parent committee. "That's sustainability for you," she
says. "Tanzanians disciplining Tanzanians."
Occasionally
there have been complaints from volunteers who arrive in Tanzania with lofty
ideals but find themselves clashing with Sisia's iron will. When this happens,
she doesn't hesitate to send them home. "Oh gosh, I'm the biggest
bitch!" she says. "Absolutely! I would say there is an issue with one
in four volunteers." Saville admits the Tanzanians can be afraid of the
feisty Australian. "Yes, in the same way as they're afraid of anybody in
authority," she says. "It's the Tanzanian way, but Gemma will always
be the head kicker."
Four
years ago, Sisia stepped down as St Jude director to spend more time with her
family. The Sisias' two oldest children, Nathaniel, 14, and Jacob, 12, go to
boarding school in South Africa (they don't qualify for St Jude), leaving
Isabella, 7, and Louisa, 3, at home. Gemma has also helped Richard relaunch his
business, which offers 4WD trips through Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya.
The
school's parent board asked her to come back because families were worried that
without her the school could collapse. Standards were slipping, according to
Fausta Alfayo, chairperson of the parent committee. "We want her there to
do the push-push-pushing," says Alfayo.
As
graduation day gets underway, Sisia takes to the stage. The
students excitedly adjust their academic robes and hats, debating in rapid-fire
Swahili whether the hats' tassel should hang to the left or right. Her voice
cracking with emotion, Sisia welcomes Tanzania's deputy minister of education,
parents, visitors – including her mother – and the students. "It seems
like yesterday that you enrolled," she tells them.
"From
today, I am a leader," affirms student representative Cecilia Collumbus.
"We are all leaders. To everyone here today, we promise that we are going
to leave a remarkable footprint on the future."
For
each alumnus, that future begins with a year of community service, including
three months of military service, followed by a "giving back" period
of teaching in a Tanzanian government school, before going on to university.
Judica Amon, 20, wants to study business. In offering her this education, Sisia
has, she believes, saved her and other girls from early marriages and mundane
lives: "We call this heaven and it is truly heaven compared to the
government schools. It has changed our lives and opened up an opportunity for a
great future."
In
Tanzania, where a cornfield once lay, there now stands a school. Where kids
formerly had no better prospects than minding cows, children are receiving a
life-changing education. Sue Rice has no more doubts about her daughter's
unexpected path in life, even as she recognises that Gemma is unlikely ever to
return to Australia to live. "I am more than proud of what she has
achieved," she tells me. "I am in awe of it."
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| Gemma and Her Family |
We request more of people like Gemma and Other Sponsors to show up to people who are real inneed.
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