Dealing with school fees blues

Bits of ME

“Stop the car, fellow woman!” with her flying hands, she roared at me.

“Mukazi Munange” is what she called me which translates for my fellow woman.

Watching the group from a distance in middle of the road, I wondered “What is she doing with four children at such an early hour?”

Imagining something was amiss, I thought they needed a lift to town. Far from it!

It was at the onset of dawn, on occasions when I catch the early worm. There she was, charging at my car.

Rains of sweat littered across her face, her mouth and hands were somewhat trembling.

Could it have been from the morning cold but none of her kids were quivering nor sweating.

“Forgive me for bringing my challenges to you this early ‘mukazi munange' but I need your help: The President announced the reopening of schools but what my husband and I have gathered is not enough for all the kids,” she said.

In short, she was requesting for financial support.

Bits of YOU

Instantly, I began to replay every line of the piece I wrote ahead of Christmas begging you to edit the spending list, as the school list, too, signaled.

Two years of a lockdown have left parents on their last breath, but school administrators are not that kind.

To you whose spendthrift behaviour burst your children’s tuition purse, the weeks ahead could be messy: pleading with school staff, or disturbing your network for borrowing ( who by the way could be in a similar state).

To those genuinely staring into a deep financial hole, – be careful for the torment can easily escalate into a bad mood and mental disorder.

Have you heard of the infamous January that punches holes in the pocket?

In recent days, visit any WhatsApp groups, a swarm of memes poking the January financial headache is common.

Brace for it…but this is how you can get out.

A physician's revelation of how our bodies cope in a state of anxiety pushed me back to my encounter with my fellow neighborhood woman who revealed all the stress symptoms.

Dr. Vincent Karuhanga said more than 90% of disease conditions are either caused or worsened by anxiety.

Now if you’re already a victim of a disease and you are stressed with the load of school requirements, what’s likely to happen?

“Many people with high blood pressure today may not have had it if they had not been stressed,” Dr. Karuhanga cautions.

Other diseases like diabetes can also be rooted in stress and anxiety or heightened by the same.

While this period presents financial challenges, ignoring its health consequences on your body, mind and soul could cost you more yet you needn’t that extra cost at the doctor.

The obstacles in arriving at the financial demands force many into alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, vices that would never have occurred.

Dr. Karuhanga said financial challenges at this time of the year can also result into people suffering from pale skin conditions that may worsen into severe infections if not detected early.

“A person to be okay needs to be both okay in the body and in the mind. Therefore, stress can affect one's mood, thinking, behaviour and if not handled well even madness,” he said.

With all this divulged, let me bring in the school administrators to this corner and pitch for kindness.

If you are a parent, ignore warnings of “Do not bring your child to school without a fully paid bank slip” and instead confront the conversation head on.

The branded ‘new project fees', ‘development fees' is an indelible mark on the school that you may never erase.

Keep away that rope ( wrapped in new project fees) from parents, who may use it to hang themselves.