How They Make It Happen

The School of St. Jude functions with the help of partners and sponsors. There are many people who are waiting and wanting to sponsor a child at St. Jude.

The problem lies in that St Jude can not take every child, because there are not enough classrooms for all of the children who could have a sponsor, there are not enough buses to get the children to school who could have a sponsor, and there are not enough teachers to teach the children who could have a sponsor.

So even children who qualify and who have a sponsor waiting somewhere are not able to join the School of St Jude at as rapid a rate as the school would prefer - because they need the buses, teachers and classrooms to transport, teach, and house the pupils.

That is why St. Jude's is always working on new kinds of partnerships and sponsorships.

One example is the Rotarians from Australia. Rotary clubs actually donate money and labor to help build the infrastructure the school so desperately needs. Other groups and individuals do the same. Still, most people want to experience the "feel good" that comes with receiving a child's photo and letter, and with sending occassional gifts to that child. While everyone wants to be a child's sponsor, the children would not be able to be in the school at all if it weren't for the sponsorship of qualified teachers.

This is Mr. Nestory, the Head of Academics, an incredibly committed and hard working teacher leader. He is in charge of helping the sponsored teachers in the school be the very best teachers they can be.

The school also needs five new buses beginning in January to bring the new pupils to school. The buses travel dirt roads that in America would not even be considered roads, and they faithfully bring pupils to and from school each day. There is a wonderful crew of about 15 bus drivers who repair and drive the buses, and who care for the pupils to and from school.

Finally, the School of St Jude is almost constantly under construction. There is a secondary school being built on the current campus, and an additional parcel of land has been purchased to build another entire k-12 school on the other side of the district.

Many of you have asked how you can help. Become a sponsor for a teacher, for a bus, or for a classroom, or take a look at the list of needed supplies on the website and send a boxful. I can assure you that every item and every penny will be used to help change the lives of some of the neediest children you could possibly imagine.