Going against all odds to get educated
Published On September 22, 2014 » 2136 Views» By Moses Kabaila Jr: Online Editor » Features
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REMMY with his schoolmate

REMMY with his schoolmate

By MAYA NTANDA-
DRIVEN by the passion to have a better life and afford the basic requirements, 19-year-old Remmy Simukonda wants to work hard so that he can manage to have the basic needs.
Born on December 26, 1995, in a family of three, Remmy is the only surviving child of the late Mr and Mrs Simukonda.
His mother died in 2003 while his father died in 2010. He now lives with his aunt Dainess Namukonda in Musonda Township in Kitwe. His two sisters are also no more.
Remmy’s guardian sells various food stuff at the market and even though she is very supportive, she cannot manage to pay school fees and provide everything that he requires.
He says apart from aunty Dainess, he has an uncle that resides in Bulangilio Township as well as other relatives that assist him in one way or the other.
Remmy, a grade twelve pupil at Kitwe Boys Secondary School, was recently found at the sprawling Kitwe Main Bus (KMB ) station where he was selling soft drinks to travellers.
From the author’s observation, the humble looking, light skinned tall boy seemed different from other hawkers and the famous ‘calls boys’ that are normally found at KMB.
After buying a drink from him, curiosity took charge and this author had to ask why the boy was selling drinks at the station.
Remmy refuses to be hindered by the situation that he is a double orphan and dreams of doing mechanics one day or graduating from the Copperbelt University (CBU).
His aim is to get between eight to 14 points in the Grade 12 General Certificate Education (GCE) when exams would start in October and that is why he ensures that he raises money during school holidays to pay the exam and tuition fees.
He intends to engage in more piece work after writing exams because he knows that even though the school authority has been lenient with him, they are not likely to release his results until he clears the school fees.
Remmy has been struggling to settle school fees and at the time of writing this article, he had just finished paying for his grade 11 fees and had managed to pay the grade 12 exam fee which will commence in October.
He now has to think of clearing the K620 school fee which he owes the school.
“Being an orphan does not mean the end of the world, I am selling drinks so that I can pay for my school fees and assist my guardian in whichever way possible to ensure that I finish school and buy some food at home,” he said.
Remmy explains that he started the business of selling soft drinks with the capital of K100 which he was paid after doing some piece work in digging sewer holes in areas where construction of houses were underway.
Whenever the commodity is not sold out completely, the business venture is left in a rented fridge within the police camp near KMB and he pays K2,50 per case for storage.
Remmy recalls that from his capital, he made an addition of K52, kept K20 to himself while the rest of the money, he bought food and charcoal for use at home.
During the August holidays, Remmy worked three times a week and would start the day at 07:00 hours and knock off at 17:00 hours because he has to walk about 35 kilometres back to Musonda Township. He says it is not easy being at KMB for 10 hours a day, but states that he has to endure to achieve his goals.
Remmy says he has to put up with the provocation from other hawkers or call boys but has some consolation in his friend Kelvin who also sells at the Station.
He says he avoids engaging in illicit drugs because it makes one confused and look rough.
“Life at KMB is not easy, at times one may just start an argument so that you go into a fight, but I avoid such things by just moving away, no matter how much I am provoked and with God’s protection and guidance I have managed,” he says.
Remmy counsels fellow pupils in the country to use the opportunity that they have to get educated, honour their parents and be God fearing children.
“I appreciate my guardians and everything they do for me. I wish my parents were alive so my advice to those that have parents is honour and obey them and surely God will bless you,” he says.
A day in Remmy’s life during school days starts at 06:00 hours when he wakes up and help with house chores before preparing to go to school.
He says after school, he studies from the United Church of Zambia (UCZ) building from 22:00 hours, sleeps for an hour before waking up again at 02:00 hours to study for another hour .
He then goes to bed and wakes up at 06:00 hours.
Asked how he fights temptations looking at his age which is a critical stage in fighting feelings of the opposite sex, With a smile, Remmy says temptations are there but through prayer and believing in God, he manages to fight them.
He says he hopes to find a beautiful girl that he would marry after school and upon graduating from CBU.
Kitwe boy’s guidance teacher Dorothy Phiri describes Remmy as a good boy.
Ms Phiri, however, says Remmy’s performance was not impressive during the mock exams and attributes his poor performance to social problems that he was facing.
“He is a good boy in terms of behaviour but his performance during mock exams was poor, it is evident that he has social problems and he is affected in one way or the other because its natural for him to think about food when he is supposed to concentrate on school work and that is not easy,” she says.
Ms Phiri advises pupils to work hard at school and realise that having parents was a privilege which should not be taken for granted.
She says pupils in similar situation as Remmy might face social challenges and suffer now but with education, things will never be the same.

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