SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The idea started with three students and $10.

“One of my school friends gave me my first donation, which was $10. I took her money to the bank and opened the bank account with the $10,” Gemma Sisia said.

In 2002, Gemma Sisia started The School of St Jude in Tanzania. Her decision to do so came after noticing the need for quality education for children experiencing extreme poverty.

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“I thought, wouldn’t it be great to have a good quality private school that didn’t charge school fees so that parents, like my parents, didn’t have to struggle to pay for those school fees?” Sisia said.

Now, 20 years down the road, the School of St Jude educates 1,800 grade-level students and supports 400 college-level students who experience extreme poverty in Tanzania every year. Those wishing to attend, must apply for a scholarship, come from a governmental school and complete a number of entrance exams. Additionally, students must also undergo a ‘poverty test.’

“If they have electricity, they could be considered too wealthy for the program. If they have more than two rooms, they could be considered too wealthy for the program,” Sisia said.

Once a child is accepted into The School of St Jude, the search for a sponsor begins.

“The students apply for a scholarship, but like scholarships all around the world, you have to have somebody behind paying for that scholarship. And so, we have thousands of sponsors around the world who finance a scholarship,” Sisia said.

Many of those sponsors include Rotarians in South Dakota and across the U.S., each of them supporting students, like Suleiman Mohammed, throughout their education.

“It’s not like these sponsors have no other things to put their money into. But the fact that they prioritize and they think about someone who is less fortunate than them a long ways away, it means a lot,” Mohammed said.

Mohammed is a 2015 graduate who is now living his childhood dream as a doctor at the largest hospital in Tanzania. He began his journey with the school in 2009 when he was invited to apply for a scholarship. After finishing his degree at one of Tanzania’s top medical schools, Mohammed, along with six other St Jude’s alumni, became one of the school’s first doctors.

“I don’t think I would be where I am today or in the career that I am. If I somehow would make a career out of myself, it will be in a very difficult way. But The School of St Jude has made it very easy for me and very real and very doable for me to get into medicine and actually dream of doing something in medicine,” Mohammed said.

Mohammed now works as a general practitioner.

It’s one thing to hear about the success of her students in their professional careers, but it’s another to see it.

“Not long ago, I broke my arm and I had to go into the doctor and he sent me to the radiology to get X-rays and everything. And he’s a radiologist, one of my alumni,” Sisia said. “A few weeks ago, my daughter had to get an MRI done and we had to go to a big hospital in town. One of my alumni works in the MRI department. So it’s wonderful that I’m now starting to bump into them on a professional basis.”

That’s why Sisia continues to share the impact of sponsors. You can learn more about sponsoring a student at The School of St Jude here.