Introduction
Lameck Bwalya, a Cohort 36 fellow from Zambia, did not wait for students to come to him. He went to where they already were, tuned into campus radio. Under the KAFI Financial Literacy Community Project, Bwalya delivered a financial literacy awareness session broadcast live from the University of Zambia's campus radio station, reaching students scattered across hostels, lecture rooms, and open campus spaces simultaneously, an approach that extended his reach far beyond what a single physical gathering could have achieved.
Choosing a Platform Students Already Trusted
The decision to deliver financial literacy content through radio reflects a clear understanding of how to reach a student audience effectively. Rather than requiring students to set aside time to attend a separate event, Bwalya met them within a medium already woven into campus life, one that could reach students wherever they happened to be, whether studying in their hostel room or walking between lectures. This choice gave his session a scale that a traditional in person gathering would have struggled to match.
Three Pillars for a Student Audience
Bwalya structured his broadcast around three interconnected themes, each addressing a distinct stage of a young person's financial development. Safe spending formed the session's foundation, covering the distinction between needs and wants, practical budgeting on a student allowance, and strategies for avoiding impulse buying, concerns immediately relevant to any student managing a fixed, limited stipend.
From there, he moved into entrepreneurship, encouraging students to consider starting small businesses even with minimal capital, identifying opportunities specific to campus life, and reinvesting profits to grow gradually over time. This focus acknowledged a reality many students face, limited formal income paired with genuine entrepreneurial potential within their immediate environment. Finally, Bwalya addressed building a financial mindset, encouraging students to recognize that the money habits they form now will directly shape their financial futures, a framing that connected the session's practical guidance to a longer term sense of purpose.
A Broadcast That Became a Two Way Conversation
Despite operating through a radio format, Bwalya's session proved remarkably interactive. Students called in and sent messages throughout the broadcast, sharing questions alongside their own personal experiences with money. This level of engagement transformed what could have been a purely one directional broadcast into something closer to a live, evolving conversation, with student contributions shaping the direction and depth of the discussion in real time.
The response Bwalya received was strongly positive, with many students admitting they had never previously considered budgeting or starting a small business while still in school. This reaction speaks to a genuine gap in how students typically think about their finances during their university years, often treating this period as separate from serious financial planning rather than recognizing it as an ideal time to begin building sound habits and exploring entrepreneurial opportunities.
From the Airwaves to the Podium
The impact of the radio session extended directly into a second opportunity the following day, when Bwalya was invited to deliver a public speech to students on campus. He used this platform to address safe investment and responsible crediting, walking students through the distinction between careless borrowing, capable of causing real financial harm, and smart investment paired with good credit use, capable of genuinely boosting a person's financial position over time.
This progression from radio broadcast to public speech reflects the kind of momentum a well received financial literacy session can generate, one opportunity for engagement opening the door to another, allowing Bwalya to deepen and extend the conversation he had begun the previous day. Students engaged actively during this second session as well, leaving with practical steps they could begin applying immediately rather than abstract financial theory to consider at some undefined point in the future.
Learning to Plan Before Spending
The feedback shared by students illustrates how directly Bwalya's message translated into concrete behavioral commitments. One participant reflected on the meaning of safe spending, recognizing that it fundamentally means planning before making a purchase. This student committed specifically to building a budget for their upkeep money, moving away from a pattern of spending it entirely within the first week of receiving it, a common challenge among students managing allowances without a structured plan for stretching that money across an entire term or month.
Seeing Campus as a Place to Build, Not Just Study
A second student described the entrepreneurship segment of the session as genuinely inspiring, arriving at the realization that a small business could be started right there on campus, even with limited starting capital, and grown gradually over time. This reflection speaks to a valuable shift in perspective, students reconsidering the university campus not solely as a place of formal study, but also as an environment rich with practical opportunities for entrepreneurial growth, if approached with patience and a willingness to start small.
Understanding That Credit Cuts Both Ways
A third student's feedback focused on the public speech segment addressing credit, describing a genuine surprise at learning that credit could function as both a harmful and a beneficial financial tool depending on how it is used. This student came away with a clear, actionable principle, that borrowing should be reserved specifically for opportunities likely to generate returns, rather than being used casually to fund discretionary wants. This distinction reflects exactly the kind of critical thinking Bwalya aimed to instill through his discussion of responsible crediting, encouraging students to evaluate borrowing decisions through the lens of potential return rather than simple, immediate convenience.
Reaching Students at Scale Without Losing Depth
What distinguishes Bwalya's approach is his ability to combine broad reach with genuine depth of engagement. The radio format allowed his message to reach a far wider audience than a single physical session could accommodate, while the interactive calls and messages ensured the broadcast remained responsive to actual student concerns rather than functioning as a static, pre recorded lecture. His subsequent public speech then allowed him to build directly on that foundation, deepening the conversation with students who had likely already encountered his message through the radio broadcast the day before.
This combination, broad initial reach followed by deeper, more targeted engagement, offers a model well suited to university settings, where students are often difficult to gather in one place but remain highly connected through shared campus media and communication channels.
A Message That Reframed Student Life Itself
Reflecting on the overall experience, Bwalya observed that when financial literacy is made simple and genuinely relatable, young people respond with real eagerness to learn and take action. The feedback he received across both the radio session and the public speech supports this observation directly, students moving from passive awareness to specific, personal commitments, whether that meant building a first budget, launching a small campus business, or approaching credit with newfound discernment.
As Bwalya continues his work within Cohort 36, his sessions at the University of Zambia stand as a clear example of how creative use of existing campus platforms, combined with genuinely interactive, relatable content, can extend financial literacy's reach across an entire student body while still producing the kind of specific, individual impact reflected in the reflections his participants shared.
Report Summary
Lameck Bwalya, a Cohort 36 fellow from Zambia, conducted a financial literacy awareness session for students at the University of Zambia under the KAFI Financial Literacy Community Project, delivered live through campus radio to reach students across hostels, lecture rooms, and campus grounds. The broadcast covered safe spending, including budgeting on a student allowance and avoiding impulse buying, entrepreneurship opportunities for starting small businesses with limited capital, and building a long term financial mindset. The interactive session drew calls and messages from students sharing questions and personal experiences, with many expressing that they had never previously considered budgeting or entrepreneurship while in school. The following day, Bwalya delivered a public speech on safe investment and responsible crediting, addressing how careless borrowing can cause harm while smart investment and good credit use can support financial growth. Feedback reflected strong practical impact, with students committing to build personal budgets, considering small campus businesses, and adopting a more discerning approach to borrowing focused on returns rather than casual spending. Bwalya concluded that making financial literacy simple and relatable encourages genuine eagerness among young people to learn and take immediate action.
