'Really bad mould'- Girl (17) does church service to help pay rent for a room in Dublin

A 17 year old girl from Carlow has set up a GoFundMe for herself due to her financial struggles in her first year of college.

Gabriella Sibanda is studying social care in Technological University Dublin (TUD) and lives in a shared student accommodation unit in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin.

The young girl's rent is €450 a month for a small room. She said the price is reduced for her because she found the accommodation through a Church which offers cheaper rent if you help out at Sunday Church service. 

Otherwise her rent would be about €100 more expensive a month.

"It's not bad," Gabriella said. "But it's not in the best condition....there's a few things that need t be fixed and there is really bad mould."

"For €450 it's not bad.....but the walls are in bad condition and some of the equipment is not working....the clothes dryer wasn't working the other day."

Gabriella, despite moving from her home in Carlow to be closer to college in Dublin, has to commute an hour to college every morning.

"I have to take the dart and the Luas...it takes like an hour...".

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Gabriella's main worry is trying to find a job so she can financially support herself. She does get a SUZI grant allowance of €479 every month but after she pays her rent with that she is left with 29 euro.

The 29 euro Gabriella has left over is spent on commuting to college and food. She said luckily her college has some free groceries which she makes use of.

"The most important thing is that I get a job.....I applied to so many jobs in Dublin and in Carlow....maybe it's because I skipped fourth year so I don't have work experience but I do have voluntary experience in a few places."

"It's been really really hard to find a job".

Gabriella said she applied to over 70 jobs  with no luck.

She created a GoFundMe which said: "This has been my last resort.... I know there are more worthy causes out there but even two euro can go a long way for me, thank you! I will leave this here until I successfully find a job."

Gabriella's GoFundMe can be found here.