Zambia
Kasolo
I am Kasolo Ngandwe and I am the last born in the family of six. I am 22 years old. I was put on CAMFED support in 2003 when I qualified to Grade 8.My mother could not manage to pay my school fees as she was not working. My father died when I was eight years old.
I was given a privilege to apply for my tertiary education when we were having CAMFED leadership and enterprise training in Lubwe. I studied Social Work at Evelyn Hone College as my main interest was in community work. I like to interact with people. I also enjoy helping people who are less privileged.
College life is really different. You find all sorts of people. Some were friendly and others were not. It took a while to fully adapt. A lot of CAMFED staff really encouraged me and this helped the transition. I also had good friends who really understood my background. These helped me both spiritually and academically.
I had a number of challenges whilst pursing my programme. My program requires a lot of study material as it is so broad and our library does not have a lot of material. Social work has so many course contents and therefore you find that you have so much to read. However, I managed to divide my time. I also had time to also do other social activities such as going to church. I ensured I made friends who had the same goals as me. In such a way you even avoid peer pressure.
I had a number of best moments. But what tops it is the graduation and receiving so much support from CAMFED. I completed my course without failing in any subject. I think this is really a great achievement seeing a number of people who fail.
I will also remember my first days in college when we were subjected to a series of exams and I was one of the people who topped the class. I want to continue with my education. I would like to obtain a degree. I am also looking forward to getting a job. I also want to help my family.