As we press on with life’s journey so do expenses magnify and truth be confessed university students grapple to satisfy their needs by ...
As we press on with life’s journey so do expenses magnify and truth be confessed university students grapple to satisfy their needs by hunting for that extra coin. While some of these wants are genuine; like the paying school fees, rent and buying food, other wants may include partying, having the current smart phone, or taking their loved ones out to some expensive hotels. So where do university students get money to gratify their needs? Here are some of the sources.
This is the prime source of money for most University students. A semester where HELB funds are delayed will spell doom to the comrades. Last year student leaders organized a countrywide university strike due to HELB board delay to put money into the student’s bank account.
“A comrade wants to commit suicide, but a comrade does not have money to buy a rope” University of Nairobi SONU leader Babu Owino would say this in his address to the press signifying the desperation that bedevil the students when they don’t get HELB loan on time.
However HELB is highly misused, “Hiyo pesa ya HELB imelaaniwa, you cannot do anything valuable with it” that’s the view of most comrades who cannot account for their loans spending.
These are comrades who make clean money; they engage in small businesses alongside their studies. They are the types that Knock on other comrades doors earlier in the morning to sell chapatis. They have photocopying and printing businesses in their hostels or in the student centers.
Sugar daddies and Mummies
Some comrades opt to have sugar daddies and mummies for that extra coin; they make them their cash cows in exchange for a “good time”. The sugar daddies and mummies in turn pay their rent, buy them clothes and take them to posh hotels in Mombasa, Nakuru, Mt Kenya and other towns for entertainment; these venues provide them with cover up for their not so good activities. “The most have ever been given by a sugar daddy is Ksh 15,000” a college sugar baby disclosed to me.
Crime
Crimes in campuses is rife. The culprits usually students target other comrades laptops, electronic goods and gas cylinders. Comrades who have woofers, Television sets and laptops usually sleep with an eye open. They are ever worried their property may be stolen.
So the thugs usually strike on Fridays when the comrades are dancing the night away in a club. So when they return to the hostels dead drunk the first thing that greets their eyes is an empty room just like the dancing floor they had been dancing on the club. The shopping is also gone, so are the food remains.
The thugs are also known to break into hostels during exam periods, others simply choose to spray the victims as they sleep, then forcefully break into their rooms.
Drug Peddling
When you ask a drug peddler why he/she sells drugs, the first response will be fifty cents thought of “Get rich or die trying” the only way they deem fit to make quick bucks is through selling drugs to other students. So they will sell weed to other students either in form of rolls or weed cookies. A roll of high quality weed popularly known as “shash” goes for between 50 – 80. Only a few puffs of “shash” will make you high .
Drug peddling though illegal remains lucrative source of chums for comrades.
Bursaries
This is another source of student’s money. Most get bursaries from constituency development fund (CDF). The amount varies from one constituency to another, but still it keeps the comrades going.
Online writing
Online writing forums employ a lot of universities students who earn money by writing academic articles. One page usually ranges between 150 – 300. A lot of student own “writing accounts” and employ other students in return. The money is usually paid per month or weekly.
Scholarships
Scholarships offer a lifeline to some comrades thus enabling them to meet some of their expenses. Some scholarships cater for student’s fees, accommodation and gives them some stipend to cater for their daily needs.