How UWC’s Fairy Godmother is helping students in need

A university education doesn’t come cheap. Even though President Zuma promised free tertiary education back in 2017, that dream is yet to be realized and many students are forced to drop out due to the rising costs.

Business Tech looked at the costs of education in SA, and compiled a list of university fees, excluding textbooks, accommodations and other costs.

BA degrees range between R34 000 and R56 000 per year, while students hoping to get a BCom degree need to budget for approximately R69 000 per year. Those who manage to scrape the money together for their education, often times struggle to finance other expenses, such as books, accommodation and food.

Enter UWC’s Fairy Godmother. She lightens students’ loads by accepting donations from the public and releasing the funds to those in need.

When a student is looking at a debt of thousands of rands per year to fund their education, even a small donation to print study materials or buy a few meals can make a difference.

The Fairy Godmother, who prefers to remain anonymous, realised how bad some students had it and simply couldn’t ignore it anymore. We reached out to the UWC Fairy Godmother to learn more.

Why and when did you start the page?

The page was launched in 2017. It was prompted by an application received by a Faculty Assessment committee from a student who had missed his final exam because he didn’t have R30 taxi fare to travel to campus.

Had I known that just R30 stood between this young man and the successful completion of this module, I would have given it to him in a heartbeat – and I knew many other people out there would have done the same.

So, I developed the page as a platform to connect those two groups of people. By the way, today that young man receives R1 200 per month, which covers his entire taxi fare. He is excelling in his Law degree.

You work primarily through Facebook – how much of a struggle has it been to get the project off the ground and connect potential funders with deserving students?

Fortunately none at all. The biggest challenge is balancing the page’s admin with my work and family life.

What are the most common things the students are struggling with?

Taxi/bus fare and groceries. Many people who travel to work daily in their own private car will be absolutely shocked to hear how expensive taxis are.

I read the story of one of your funders who raised R2 000 by hosting a breakfast for family and friends, while also raising awareness of the problems a lot of students are facing. It’s clear that the work you’re doing is inspiring others – do you see this as the purpose of your platform?

I’m not sure I’d encourage everybody to launch their own initiative per se – there’s no need to reinvent the wheel! – but I do love it when people come up with their own original ideas to support a cause. As the saying goes, “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.”

For instance, we also recently had a couple ask guests at the combined birthday party to bring groceries and toiletries for UWC students in lieu of birthday gifts, and it was a VERY successful outcome!

You are doing incredible work in helping students focus on their studies in situations that otherwise may derail their university experience. Do you feel the platform is sustainable in the long term? Is there a need for corporates to start investing in initiatives like this that address not just the cost of tuition but also the day-to-day expenses that are often crippling for students?

I believe this initiative is sustainable, as long as I can muster the energy to keep running the page. As you know, the page is currently entirely funded by private persons.

Of course, we would welcome corporate funding too, but I am hampered by the fact that I am not able to register as an NPO (as it’s just me running the page).

Although, at the end of the day, I don’t believe this is the responsibility of either of private or the corporate sectors – it’s the responsibility of government.

This page is only a gap-fill measure, and in theory should only be a temporary necessity, until such time that government makes education (and not just tuition fees) a genuine live possibility for all.

To support the UWC Fairy Godmother, reach out on the Facebook Page. It can be as small as helping this student buy a new Lenovo charger, buying groceries for this student, or helping this student with her graduating expenses.