By NIEH MERCY
With the rise of living cost in Cameroon, university students far away from home struggle with surviving in school milieu. Nadine, a level 300 Micro-biology student is one of those students who wish to strive amidst studies and hardship
At just 23 years old Nadine works like a student and a parent, with no income of her own and little money coming from struggling parents , Nadine now depends on odd jobs simply to survive the university miliue properly.
This third-year Micro Biology student at the University of Yaoundé I works every weekday from 8am to 5pm at this mini-restaurant called “Chez Nadine”
“I earn more than five figures a day here,” Nadine says, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her wrist while serving customers . “The money I work here is what pays my rent, my feeding, my photocopies, and my transportation as a student”
Nadine’s shift begins long before most students have left their beds. She wakes at 5am and by 6 she is on her way heading to the Campus. Once she arrives she starts preparing the restaurant because customers start entering at 8 am.
While her classes are held few days a week Nadine reports always heading to classes tired and sleepy and she emphasizes that she takes week ends to do assignments and take some rest.
Nadine is not alone. Nowadays many students try struggling between studies and side hustles just so they can survive the expenses of the university, while some work in canteens, some offer their skills in cyber cafes for a pay and many more. For Nadine and many of this students who do side hustles the dream remains clear despite the exhaustion , they all want to graduate at the same time surviving properly.