Sponsors are father-figures to us — University girls

“You are either a sponsor or no one”, that’s the new mantra by which most university students are living by, and they are loving it.

As testament that the ‘sponsor thing’ has gone viral, a week will hardly pass by without jaw-dropping incidences linked to this new craze — it’s leaving behind a trail of destruction.

Guns have even been drawn, shots fired and people have lost their lives!

For campus girls, having a sponsor is almost becoming a basic need.

“It’s not a bad idea to have one, considering the broke life many lead in campus. Money is a rumour. Life here is hell,” says Anne, a student from Moi University in Eldoret.

The education student adds: “Some of us are not government-sponsored students, which means you have to depend on your parents. It’s worse if your parents are poor. How do you girls to cope in college?”

Asked if she would get a sponsor, the 22-year-old said: “If I get one... why not? After all, relationships in campus are just a waste of time. Those young kids we call boyfriends are just a waste of time!”

Yusele Lowa, a 20-year-old public relations student at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology says: “Most of the girls I know have their campus guys for real love, but will also have a sponsor for money.”

According to Yusele, a sponsor is not necessarily a boyfriend — his work is to make the girl happy by spoiling her with gifts without complaining or setting tough conditions. Some students however seek sponsors hoping for emotional support.

“These little boys in campus take too long to mature. They don’t understand women. That’s why I date older men,” says a student who declined to be named.

Psychologist Niceta Ireri says that, “Some girls are simply hunting for a father-figure in their lives; a man to give them fatherly love.”

She adds that, “Some of these girls are seeking psychological satisfaction, they are looking for someone to talk to as most of their agemates - of the opposite sex - are lost in drugs and can’t lend them an ear.”