Derrick Mbewe - college sponsorship
Report made by Johnny and Grant June 2008:
Sponsor: Noel O’Regan
Attending Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka
First term: Derrick has already sent his marks to Noel. Has had average marks. Feels that he will not fail any of his subjects. Best subject: Business Maths, and Statistics and Business Law. Worst subject: Application packages - which is worst but not the cause of concern.
Living conditions: Not accommodated at school and is lodging in town. There are 6 in one room. Despite this it is expensive (K250,000) per month. Also security is not good, and he has, for example, lost some of his clothes which were stolen from his unlocked room. Food is arranged in a group of 3 with costs shared and they cook for one another. This is very difficult because of the rapid rise in food prices and the inability to budget for unforeseen food price increases (eg. 2kg of sugar has increased from K10,000 to K16,000 in two months). The problem is that the two sharing with him are to leave soon and this will leave Derrick on his own looking for someone new to share with. The problem is that he doesn’t then know who they will be and whether they will be drunks, etc. Also, there is a problem of noise while studying because not everyone is quiet and the others play loud music, etc. The best solution is to try to find accommodation in the school. However, this will not happen until next year at the earliest. A single room would cost K400,000 per month.
Has access to the library which is very short of books, but he is doing OK with regards to books thanks to the books that Noel has bought for him.
Derrick says that he finds the uncertainty of only a little flexibility in his budget distressing. He couldn’t have predicted that he would fall ill (which meant unexpected expenses for dentistry charges). He is distressed that he never knows, when the school goes on a business experience excursion, whether he can really afford it because it wasn’t part of his original budgeting.
See the Sponsorship accounts for further details of Derrick's sponsorship
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