Internship of my dreams

Nadia Mutisi University of Zimbabwe

Being an intern at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University in Washington DC was a dream come true.

I applied for this internship in January of 2022.

After working on my application for some days and pressing “apply”  on the application portal I let out a sigh of relief. I quickly snapped a selfie and sent it to my sister. The selfie’s caption read, “Just sent in my application for an internship at Georgetown. Keep this picture in case I make it. I want to be unable to believe it.”

In about three weeks after quite a daunting interview process, I would genuinely be unable to believe it as I screamed, “I made it! I got the internship!” I imagined myself on a plane, flying to America with my headphones on and my head bopping to Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind”.

My wild dream would soon be dampened after having a meeting with one of the representatives at the O’Neill Institute, where I would be quickly informed that the internship would be self-funded even though it would be a paid internship.

I battled with whether I should still work towards trying to raise the money to attend this once-in-a lifetime opportunity.

There were many odds stacked against me; I was only a 22-year-old young woman and did not have the kind of money that one needs to live in America for eight weeks.

I consulted with many individuals whom I trusted, and most people told me to go for it! No one knew where the money would come from.

I just simply had to have a bit of faith! I talked to God about this dream and I wrote it down in my diary as a goal that I wanted to achieve.

After a long, arduous process and with about a week to go till the start of the internship, I was finally able to raise the funds I needed. I know that it sounds easier as you read this right now but, looking for ways to attend this amazing opportunity was the hardest thing I have ever encountered.

Not only was it tiring and demoralising as I received numerous rejection letters from the places, I appealed to for funding, but feelings of doubt and comparison made it emotionally draining as well.

So many people assisted me to make this dream a reality and this opened my eyes to the sheer goodness of people.

Following an article about our story in The Herald, a wonderful family reached out to offer us accommodation for the duration of our stay in America.

I say our because I was not the only Zimbabwean to be selected for this prestigious internship. I was selected together with Nathan Zindikilani, a very talented and ambitious young man studying law at Great Zimbabwe University.

My family, family friends, my lecturers, former school mates, classmates, Pastor Percy and his congregation, my mentors contributed towards this dream of mine and sent me off to Washington DC to have the experience of a lifetime.

In America, I lived with Levi and Stephanie Mberego, the awesome Christian couple that had taken Nathan and I in for the duration of our internship. They were even kind enough to offer one of our intern friends, Victoria Aduroja from Nigeria, accommodation as well.

To go to work, I took the metro from Maryland to Washington DC. This fascinating mode of transport was new to me and was quite efficient.

My workplace was a beautiful modern office where everyone mostly came in casually dressed. In my time at the Institute, I contributed to cutting edge research on global health law and also had the privilege to be part of amazing conversations on health.

Being in DC at the same time as the overturning of the iconic and important Roe v Wade decision impacted me greatly as the bulk of my work focused on self-managed abortion under the supervision of leading health law expert, Lucia Berro Pizzarossa.

I toured the city on my free days, visited the Capitol Building, went to the White House and had coffee with iconic personalities in the field of law and public policy.

Walking through the grounds of Georgetown Law Centre felt surreal, important.

Seeing America and working in America was an amazing experience and I am forever grateful to everyone who made it possible for me.

Being in the centre of where it all happens was fulfilling, especially as I aspire to have a career in international governance and human rights.

This opportunity allowed me to rub shoulders with individuals in health law such as the director of capacity building at the O’Neill Institute, Sarah Bosha and Dr Andrés Constantin.

My only hope is that our society would recognise internships as an integral part of learning and that more and more people would take the initiative to sponsor and support students embarking on international internships as the journey can be quite tough.

Since returning from the United States, I have been involved in various projects pertaining to human rights and advocacy. My most exciting initiative yet is the social impact project I founded under the Millenium Fellowship 2022, Skills4Skool.

This project aims to connect University Students to opportunities for them to generate cash using their skills.

As I have entered into my final year of law school, I imagine myself as Shelly-Anne Fraser Pryce, tying my running shoes, ready for the race.

I intend to sprint through this last year, I cannot wait to get my degree! There’s so much to do and yet such little time! So much policy to change and a whole wild world to transform!