Peter Kalungama – SEEKING FUNDING FOR MY MASTERS DEGREE

I am Kalungama Peter living in Zambia a country located in southern Africa. I live in Kasama the provincial capital of Northern Province. I work at Kasama College of Education. I have a degree in education (mathematics) from The University of Zambia and a diploma in Education (mathematics and geography) from Kwame Nkrumah teachers college a college affiliated to University of Zambia.

I would like to give a background of my life. I was born in 1970. My father was a politician working for government those days when we had one party system. My mother was a house wife. In 1976 my parents divorced and I grew up with my father but occasionally went to visit my mother. In my family we are 4 two male and two female. However my father has other 4 children from a different wife and my mother has two out of wedlock.

I finished my secondary school in 1990. At that time my father was just retiring from his post as a district political secretary. He was however not given a pension because of change of government. It became therefore very difficult for me to get to college. I stayed for four years without going to college. I tried to do untrained teaching. In my country there are few teachers and sometimes school leavers are contracted to teach at certain schools were there be a shortage of teachers. I did this to help me raise some funds to enable me get into college. However I had a brother who was still in school and needed my financial assistance and more over my mother was quite vulnerable so I had to help out in keeping them.

I used up the money to look after my mother and send my brother to school. The money I was getting was also not enough and we could not make ends meet by the month end. I started selling charcoal. I could go out in the village and buy bags of charcoal which I later sold in town. However there was very little profit and so I changed the business to sell fish. I would go to the lake and buy dry fish take to the copper belt. However I was very unluck one day when I bought fish and took to copper belt. I found that fish was much cheap on the market than it was from the lake. I lost miserably and felt that I was a failure in all I was doing.

When time came for me to go to college I had no money. So my hope of going to college vanished. Few days before reporting my brother in-law who has married my older sister visited us. I explained to him my predicament that I had no money to pay for my fees. He was very compassionate. He gave me money and I felt a heavy load falling off my shoulders.

When I went to college I had no shoes. I just bought very cheap canvas shoes. i had almost nothing. But God saw me through and I completed my diploma in mathematics and geography.

Upon completion I was sent to work in Mporokoso district at Mporokoso high school. That was my first time to live far away from my relatives. This was my first time to live in a place about 800km from my parents on my own. I was at secondary school about 1000km from home but this was a new experience in that the place where I was posted was very remote and rural. There were no buses going to that place transport was by trucks which were very rarely available. To get on one truck it would take a day and then we had to sit on these trucks loaded with items for some businessmen taking their items to their shops.

The road was so bad since it was not tarred even up to date. The distance of this stretch from Kasama is about 180km but it would take the all day traveling.

My life in this part of the country was beset by new experiences. I enjoyed teaching but hated the place. I tried all that was in my power to get out of that place but I failed. It was only when I went to the University of Zambia to do a degree in education (mathematics) that I was able to get a transfer to Kasama College of Education where I am currently working lecturing in mathematics education.

I have been at this college since July, 2007. My stay here has been good but I am not so secure. The government is upgrading the college to start offering diploma courses in primary education and they want lecturers with master’s degree. I have no money to pay for my tuition. My salary is essentially $500 (K2, 500, 000) and this cannot do anything. It is also very competitive to be given a place at our university. So I have found my self in a predicament that needs urgent attention. I am also a very ambitious man. I would like to excel in life. I would like to reduce poverty in my family. Am a second born in my family and I would like to educate other members of my family also. I also would like to help other people in my locality. Zambia is one of the poorest nations in the world and we lack good education. There are many natural resources but we lack education which can assist us develop our resources.

I would like to do masters in a mathematics related field. I applied to masters at Southampton University in the UK and they have given me an offer to do masters in demography. However I do not have the money needed to pay for tuition, accommodation and upkeep. Tuition is £10, 400 and accommodation and upkeep is close to £8000.

What I need

I need to do this programme very badly. I feel it is what I can do better. Zambia needs qualified demographers to assist in the collection of data on population and be able to advice government on issues of development.

I therefore appeal to any body that would be able to assist me raise the money for the fees. My appeal is to anybody with the resources.

My admission letter, references, fees and living expenses and other needed documents are available at your request.

My contact information is as follows

Name: Kalungama Peter

Email – peterkalungama@yahoo.co.uk

Cell number; +260977839771

Postal address: Kasama College of Education

Box 410195, Kasama, Zambia

House no. Kasama College of Education lecturers compound house no. 14