Introduction
When Naomi Mbewe walked into a lecture hall at the University of Zambia to talk to students about money, she did not come with a lecture. She came with questions. How do you feel when your allowance runs out before the month does? What happens to the money you cannot account for at the end of the week? Where do you see yourself financially in five years?
Those questions opened a conversation that would leave a lasting impression on the students in the room, and on Mbewe herself.
A Conversation, Not a Class
Mbewe, a KAFI Financial Literally Fellowship Cohort 30 participant currently placed in Group 3, spent the session engaging directly with UNZA students about their everyday relationship with money. Rather than presenting financial literacy as a set of rules to memorize, she framed it as a skill built through honest reflection and small, consistent decisions.
She described the exchange as one of the more meaningful experiences of her involvement in the program so far. Students opened up about the pressure of stretching limited allowances, the temptation of impulsive spending, and the uncertainty many feel about where to even begin with saving or investing. Some spoke about the awkwardness of discussing money with friends and family, while others admitted they had simply never been taught how to plan a budget in the first place. For many, the session was the first time they had spoken openly about their financial struggles in a group setting, without fear of judgment.
For Mbewe, these were not new problems, but hearing them articulated by her peers reinforced something she has come to believe strongly: financial hardship is rarely only about how much money a person has. It is just as often about how that money is managed. She noted that many students arrived at the session assuming that financial literacy was a subject reserved for people with substantial income or formal financial training. Part of her role, she felt, was to dismantle that assumption early, so that students could engage with the material without feeling it did not apply to them.
"It made me realize that sometimes it is not only about how much money we receive, but also how we manage and spend it," she reflected after the session.
That distinction became the thread running through the entire discussion. Rather than treating income as the primary obstacle to financial stability, Mbewe encouraged students to examine their spending patterns, their awareness of where money goes, and the habits that quietly shape their financial futures.
Practical Tools Over Abstract Advice
Throughout the session, Mbewe kept her guidance grounded and actionable. She walked students through the basics of budgeting, encouraging them to plan their allowances before spending rather than reacting to expenses as they arise. She introduced the practice of tracking expenses, a habit many students admitted they had never seriously considered, despite regularly wondering where their money had disappeared to by the end of the week.
She also addressed saving and investing, topics that can feel out of reach for students living on modest allowances. Mbewe was intentional about making these concepts approachable. Her message was not that students needed large sums to begin, but that consistency and intention mattered more than the size of the amount. Even small, regular savings, she explained, could build into meaningful financial security over time.
Mbewe encouraged students to think of saving as a habit to build rather than a milestone to reach once income improves. She spoke about setting aside a fixed portion of any allowance received, however modest, and treating that amount as non negotiable rather than optional. On the subject of investing, she kept the conversation simple and free of jargon, focusing instead on the underlying principle that money set aside today, even in small amounts, has the potential to grow over time. Her goal was not to turn students into investors overnight, but to plant the idea that investing was something within their reach, not a distant activity reserved for a later stage of life.
By the end of the session, it was clear the message had landed. Students did not simply listen. They began to reassess their own habits in real time, several of them voicing specific changes they intended to make. The room shifted from a passive question and answer format into an open exchange, with students asking follow up questions about how to start budgeting with irregular income, how to resist peer pressure around spending, and how to stay motivated when savings goals feel far away. Mbewe answered each question with the same grounded, practical tone that had defined the session from the start, drawing on her own experiences to make the advice feel real rather than theoretical.
What the Students Took Away
The feedback gathered from the session offers a clear picture of its impact. One student admitted to a habit familiar to many young people managing their own money for the first time: spending without a clear sense of where it goes. "I have realized that I need to start tracking my expenses because sometimes I spend money and I do not even know where it has gone," the student shared.
Another participant connected the discussion directly to a shift in mindset around planning ahead. "I have learned that I should budget my allowance before I start spending it. I want to start saving even if it is a small amount," they said, reflecting the exact principle Mbewe had emphasized throughout the session.
A third student left with a renewed sense of possibility, recognizing that saving and investing were not reserved for those with substantial income. "The discussion has made me realize that I can also save and invest with the little money I have. I need to reduce unnecessary spending," they noted.
These responses reflect more than passive agreement. They point to a genuine shift in how students are beginning to think about their financial choices, from reactive spending toward intentional planning.
A Session Summary Worth Highlighting
In her own account of the session, Mbewe described the experience as rewarding on both a personal and practical level. She valued the opportunity to hear firsthand about the financial realities students at UNZA navigate daily, from the challenges of saving on a limited budget to the uncertainty many feel about investing for the first time.
She was equally invested in equipping students with tools they could use immediately. Her guidance touched on budgeting as a foundation, expense tracking as a form of self-awareness, and saving and investing as achievable goals rather than distant aspirations. Her hope, she noted, is that students will carry these lessons beyond the discussion itself and begin applying them in their daily financial decisions.
That hope appears well founded. The reflections shared by students suggest the session succeeded not just in delivering information, but in shifting perspective, an outcome that speaks directly to Mbewe's approach of leading with empathy and practical relevance rather than abstract theory.
Leading by Example
What stands out most about Mbewe's engagement with the UNZA students is her approach to leadership itself. She did not position herself as an authority delivering answers from a distance. She listened first, allowed students to voice their real challenges, and then met those challenges with practical, usable guidance. That approach, rooted in genuine interaction rather than a rehearsed presentation, is likely what allowed the session's lessons to resonate as deeply as they did.
Her work reflects a broader truth about financial literacy education among young people. Information alone rarely changes behavior. What changes behavior is relevance, and Mbewe's ability to connect budgeting and saving to the everyday realities students already understand, such as an unpredictable allowance, an unaccounted for expense, or a vague sense that saving is somehow out of reach, made the difference.
The session also underscored the value of peer to peer engagement in financial literacy work. Students were more willing to be candid about their spending habits and financial anxieties because the conversation was being led by someone close to their own age and experience, rather than a distant expert. That relatability, paired with Mbewe's clear command of practical financial concepts, created an environment where students felt comfortable admitting what they did not know, which is often the first and most important step toward changing financial behavior.
As Mbewe continues her journey within Cohort 30, her session at UNZA stands as a clear example of what community-driven financial literacy work can achieve when it is personal, patient, and grounded in real conversation. Her approach offers a model that other participants in the program may draw on: meet people where they are, listen before advising, and keep every lesson tied to something students can act on the same day. If the reflections shared by the UNZA students are any indication, that model is already proving effective, and its impact is likely to extend well beyond the walls of the lecture hall where the conversation began.
Report Summary
Naomi Mbewe, a Zambian participant in Cohort 30, Group 3, facilitated a financial literacy discussion with students at the University of Zambia. The session centered on budgeting, expense tracking, saving, and investing, with an emphasis on practical habits students could apply immediately rather than theoretical concepts. Mbewe described the experience as valuable both for the insight it gave her into students' financial challenges and for the opportunity to share actionable guidance. Student feedback indicated a strong response to the session, with participants expressing new commitments to tracking expenses, budgeting allowances before spending, and beginning to save and invest, even with limited funds. The session reflects Mbewe's approach to financial literacy leadership: rooted in listening, tailored to lived experience, and focused on equipping young people with tools they can use in their daily lives.
