Students In Cuba Await Stipends Again

IT has been three months now that we are waiting for our stipends from the Ministry of Education in Namibia.

We were supposed to receive our allowances in March but so far nothing. We have approached our diplomats on numerous occasions but either they were reluctant to assist or refused to talk to us.Hence, we decided to make it public because we have exhausted all diplomatic efforts and also for the Namibian people back home to know that their sons and daughters are starving.This problem of money delay has been there since 2003 and it is becoming a habit for the Ministry to delay our money or not to send enough each year.We had discussed this problem with the deputy Minister of Education when she visited Cuba this year but there is still no change.She assured us that she would do everything possible in her power for us to receive our money on schedule.But, as you know, Namibian and African politicians are very sweet on the mouth, so nothing has materialised.She didn’t even send us feedback on the problems we discussed with her.While we are doing everything possible to keep the Namibian flag flying high by scoring good marks, this financial crisis is severely hampering our studies and it can make us fail (we are toward final exams) and repeat the academic year while our motherland is in dire need of engineers and doctors.Although we are subjected to this undeserved suffering, we are still proud of being Namibians.And we are committed, determined and optimistic that one day Vision 2030 will become a reality and it is upon our shoulders to make that happen.Therefore, we are urgently requesting the Ministry to send our stipend as soon as possible.Any comments or suggestions should be forwarded to this e-mail address: namcuba_namibia@yahoo.co.uk Penda Negonga President Namibian Students Union in Cuba (NASUC)We have approached our diplomats on numerous occasions but either they were reluctant to assist or refused to talk to us.Hence, we decided to make it public because we have exhausted all diplomatic efforts and also for the Namibian people back home to know that their sons and daughters are starving.This problem of money delay has been there since 2003 and it is becoming a habit for the Ministry to delay our money or not to send enough each year.We had discussed this problem with the deputy Minister of Education when she visited Cuba this year but there is still no change.She assured us that she would do everything possible in her power for us to receive our money on schedule.But, as you know, Namibian and African politicians are very sweet on the mouth, so nothing has materialised.She didn’t even send us feedback on the problems we discussed with her.While we are doing everything possible to keep the Namibian flag flying high by scoring good marks, this financial crisis is severely hampering our studies and it can make us fail (we are toward final exams) and repeat the academic year while our motherland is in dire need of engineers and doctors.Although we are subjected to this undeserved suffering, we are still proud of being Namibians.And we are committed, determined and optimistic that one day Vision 2030 will become a reality and it is upon our shoulders to make that happen.Therefore, we are urgently requesting the Ministry to send our stipend as soon as possible.Any comments or suggestions should be forwarded to this e-mail address: namcuba_namibia@yahoo.co.uk Penda Negonga President Namibian Students Union in Cuba (NASUC)