Thu Feb 09 2012
In Tanzania, Shelly Sellwood got to do what she likes best - communicate.
"The reason I wanted to go to Tanzania is the idea of communication, they just want to listen to each other," Sellwood said.
After graduating from Hanover College in Indiana earlier this year, Sellwood was recommended for a six-week internship between July and August through the Tanzania Media Women's Association.
Sellwood, 22, a Frankfort High graduate, says her interest in Africa peaked about two years ago after taking an independent study course on South Africa.
"The situation is pretty unique (in Tanzania). It's a relatively stable country."
She stayed at a nicer area of Dar es Salaam, a town of three million in Tanzania. She says she didn't want to stay in a hotel or wealthy area but did find a home with a security guard.
Through the internship, Sellwood worked as a journalist. She wrote articles about what it felt to be a white woman in a foreign country that doesn't welcome tourists.
While the Tanzanians were very laid back, Sellwood said they were also extremely candid. Everywhere she went people would shout "mzungu," the Swahili
word for white person.
"When you're there (skin color) becomes your identity."
Sellwood wrote several articles about her experience for local African publications that will be published in the next several months, she said.
Aside from writing, Sellwood spent time working for Kiowhade, a local girls/women support organization.
That work included counseling and teaching English to girls ages 10-18.
"That was probably the most meaningful experience I had while I was there."
Sellwood said it was humbling to meet girls who'd experienced things she could never imagine, yet despite the trauma of poverty and rape, the girls were strong, smart and welcoming.
Families often need money so badly they send their young daughters to prostitution rings without the girls knowing that's where they're going, Sellwood said.
"It was so hard to leave them in the end. They know so much more about life than I do."
Sellwood said returning to U.S. grocery stores was overwhelming especially after seeing Tanzanians just getting by each day.
She said there were no landline phones in Tanzania but people used cell phones and would buy cards with minutes depending on how much money they could spare.
Sellwood and a Hanover classmate were the first American interns for TAMWA, she said. The application process required a resume, cover letter and
recommendation from a professor. The trip cost a few thousand dollars, which Sellwood paid mostly on her own.
Hanover professor Mi Yung Yoon said she heard of TAMWA through her research on the sub-Saharan Africa and recommended Sellwood because of her strong interest in working with women's non-governmental organizations.
"Shelley is a bright student with strong sociology background and distinct leadership skills," Yoon said.
"I hope their internship experience in Tanzania becomes a turning point in their lives personally and professionally."
Sellwood, who started her first year at the University of Louisville's law school in August, said she'd love to make the trip every other year.
"There's this constant conversation going on there," she said. "That's what I like the most."
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