Students reward true grit
LEAVING his home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to study in the Winelands town of Wellington was not easy.
Christian Songwa, 25, was not only 3 400km from everyone he knew, but he also struggled to communicate with residents of the predominantly Afrikaans-speaking town.
Songwa said yesterday that his dream to empower communities through agricultural development kept him focused, and got him to his second year in agriculture management.
It was also precisely that dream and determination that yesterday secured Songwa R10 000 toward his studies
The money was raised by the local student representative council (LSRC) in CPUT Wellington, the first time the small student town got together to raise tuition money for a peer.
Songwa said he now felt more motivated than ever.
“I am working toward my diploma in agriculture management and very grateful for the bursary. I would like to get my Master’s in development studies so that I can apply that knowledge in communities. Agriculture in Africa is a tool,” Songwa said.
LSRC secretary Nathalie Cupido said the bursary was open to international students in the Business and Applied Science faculties, because there are no bursaries for those students.
The criteria included academic achievement and financial need.
“We hosted two events that were really successful in driving profit. The one was an interhostel singing competition and the other was an inter-hostel theatre competition. We (LSRC) are overwhelmed and very happy we could do this for Christian,” Cupido said.
Cupido said the LSRC hoped it would be the start of something bigger and that future students would continue the project.