Bonile Khanyi
When Kholofelo Sono received a message from her university, asking her to settle a student debt of just over R40 000, she quickly took it to social media. She was willing to do whatever it took to raise money to cover her debt.
Guys, I’m willing to come clean your houses and babysit this Nov so I raise funds to pay off my tuition fees.Kindly RT🙏🏿 pic.twitter.com/vsWgutRnhW
— Kholofelo (@Ursula_Joy) October 31, 2017
The tweet quickly grabbed the attention of the Masingita Masunga Foundation, which was established to empower women, facilitate the development of communities and educate the next generation on the African continent.
“Instead of feeling pity for myself, I knew that if I offer a service, someone would actually say, come clean my house and that would help me raise funds,” Sono told Inside Education on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old who is a BSC graduate is currently pursuing a degree in Pharmacy at the University of Limpopo.
She said she tried to apply for a couple of bursaries, but was unsuccessful.
“My parents are struggling and they are no longer working, and after I tried applying for funding and failed, I thought it be easier to offer someone a service and get paid for it,” said Sono.
Sono said she had no idea that her tweet would gain so much attention and said she was thankful to the Masingita Masungu foundation for helping her settle her fees.
“It’s funny that I haven’t received any offers from people asking me to clean their homes or to come and babysit. Instead, I’ve had people offering to help me pay off my debts,” said Sono.
“Yesterday someone paid R700 into my student account and people continue asking me for my details to help cover this year’s debts. I so grateful to everyone.”
Speaking to Inside Education, the foundation’s founder, Masingita Masungu said she was touched when she saw Kholofelo’s tweet and was impressed to see that she was willing to do anything to pay off her debts.
“We help people who help themselves. The reason we chose to help Kholofelo, was that she showed initiative and was willing to make an effort to pay for her fees,” said Masungu.
The Masingita Masungu Foundation runs a campaign called #40440.
“Earlier this year, I launched my 40440 Campaign, representing my commitment to undertake 40 worthy initiatives for my 40th year. And when we saw that Kholofelo needed R40 620 to pay off her debts, we decided to pay the R40 000,” said Masungu.
In Conclusion, Masungu said she is heartbroken by the number of requests for funding for school fees the foundation has received and hopes that her foundation can continue making a positive impact in people’s lives.
“We don’t have much, but our foundation will continue doing the best it can in making a difference in people’s lives,” said Masunga.
