There is an African Proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child” this means that an entire community of people must interact with a child for that child to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment.

In the course of setting up the foundation, we carried out an unofficial survey and had conversations with several undergraduates and Alumni which revealed so many stories of survival, so many futures being altered by the travails of a struggling student; One may refer to these as ‘sob stories’ and even ask questions like, “What sets these stories apart from the many stories of others in similar or worse situations? OR “What makes these cases different and special?”.

One of the stories that struck us was of a Student (now Alumnus) that practically lived from his bag pack.  This personal effects were all in the bag on his back; he would attend classes during the day, sleep in classes at night, shower at one of the hostel bathrooms and resume classes for the next day. He showed up daily with determination, resilience, and a smile on his face. This is just one out of a million experiences.

Another experience is of a Student that has to study a 4-year course for 8 years. In her 3rd year, she had to pick up a withdrawal form to withdraw for that school year because she couldn’t pay her fees, which happened the year after that and when she could finally raise the money, there was a strike and COVID-19 happened; when we asked her how she was able to bounce back, she simply responded, “Friends and strangers turned friends came to my rescue”.

This is barely touching the surface of a lot of students realities, so many challenges from not being able to afford food, accommodation, fees, necessities, and so on and with the current economic state, it isn’t the easiest feat for children from low-income households to make it through school without facing one or several setbacks.

Now more than ever, the FUBU initiative has created an opportunity for individuals, organizations, and corporate bodies to strategically invest in this noble cause that will cater to the basic educational necessities of the students. It allows us to give back to society as our social responsibility and in doing this, we tend to reduce the tendencies of social vices fueled by deprivation among Students.

It takes more than the effort of one’s family to raise and support them physically, mentally, education-wise, socially, and in several other aspects.

Supporting a cause like this is a stellar opportunity for any company, individual, brand as it appeals to the emotions and conscience of anyone and everyone, and for any brand to be associated with this cause, it increases their economic value and social capital as individuals would rather associate themselves with a brand that has the interests of people at heart and is vested in giving back to the society.