Tuition fees: Grandma can’t sell a cow

Good day,

I am a former starving student, now holding a PhD. My family did not have the funds to get me through undergrad, let alone postgrad. Only through the help of my peers was I able to get to where I am today.

I am writing this as a way to pay it forward and because I do not have the means to do it myself... It literally takes a village.

A student is currently in need of fees to complete her Master's degree at Stellenbosch University. As much as I believe I have suffered, I have not have been though what she has been through. She grew up in a village raising livestock, which were then sold for her to attend university. She worked hard so that she could be admitted to the prestigious Stellenbosch University for he MSc in Sustainable Agriculture. In 2020 she could not conduct her intended research due to COVID-19. Her family had expected her to be done with her studies by now.

He grandmother is trying to sell more livestock for this student to be able to register for 2021.

Please help her grandma, who is in poor health, and take the worry off her shoulders.

I am asking for $10 000 USD (or R150 000 ZAR), but if we get more than that, the extra money will go to an NPO that is assisting under-resourced students get through University.

Thank you,

Ethel E Phiri, researcher and lecture.