Donations for the Needy Foundation Helps Needy Students at MUBAS
Financial struggles lead many students to drop out of university due to a lack of funds for basic needs, writes Brenda Pensulo.
Malawi-Financial struggles are one of the primary reasons why many university students drop out of school. Many of these students lack funds for basic needs, such as food, accommodation, and tuition fees, writes Brenda Pensulo.
To help these students, a second-year Bachelor of Arts in Journalism student at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS), Micah Nthere, founded Donations for the Needy Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at helping needy students with their daily needs.
"This organization came into existence after I saw the financial struggles my fellow students at the university are facing. Some lack tuition fees, and rentals, and some even fail to afford a single meal per day, so our main objective is to help these students with basics that are needed in a student's life," said Nthere.
Since its establishment last year, the organization has reached out to six students, providing them with the basic necessities for a better academic life.
One of the beneficiaries, Kelvin Kalitawo, received a phone call from the foundation, which he says has made his academic life easier.
"Being in college without a phone these days is a big challenge because the internet is an essential component of a student's life. You access books and other important information through the phone. Receiving this phone has made my academic life easy," said Kalitawo.
However, the foundation lacks a steady flow of income and is calling on the public to support its efforts to reach more needy students.
In addition to Donations for the Needy Foundation, other student societies within MUBAS, such as the New Apostolic Student Organization (NACSO), have emerged to help deserving students. The mission of NACSO is to meet the physical and spiritual needs of New Apostolic members and non-member students, enabling them to focus actively on education.
"As a way of sourcing funds to help these students, we organized a music concert. We managed to raise a good amount of money, which we gave to several students as upkeep and transportation money for those that did not have," said Monica Scotch, the secretary for NACSO.
Hope Banda, the general secretary for the MUBAS Students Council, acknowledged that many students are on the verge of dropping out of school due to financial problems.
While the council has managed to raise funds to help some of these students, Banda appealed to the public to support these needy students to prevent them from withdrawing from college.