Tanzania: Amal Vellani

Program: UW Health, Education, & Tanzanian Culture, Summer

Amal’s Major: Global Health, Health Promotion and Health Equity

What was a memorable experience from your program?

We played soccer with children from the Amani Street Kids Project, an organization that works tirelessly to help children escape unsafe environments in their households and those living on the streets. They are given beds, clothes, an education, and a place to call home. We unfortunately lost the game 5-0, but I would like to think we put up a good fight.

What did you learn about yourself or the world because of your experience?

I learned that we live in a bubble. As college students, we are given more privilege in a day than people receive in their lifetime. The people who have money want more, and they refuse to help their own people. I learned how to sit back, observe, and listen. I learned more from the students that I was supposed to be teaching, because they were able to tell me about their lives in a way that opened my eyes to how much Tanzania, and the world, need to improve.

How did your identities impact your experience? What advice would you give to students with similar identities who are considering a similar experience?

As the only person of color on the trip, and the only Muslim, I noticed that there was this sense of comfort that the people of Tanzania got when they saw me. Although they were welcoming towards everyone, they especially appreciated there was someone that had melanin and whose family came from the same side of the world as them. To future students, you are going to love the warm embrace you receive, but you may be asked why/how you are from the US. I had to explain the life of immigrant parents and how the US is hope to people from every country around the world, but we still keep a piece of our culture with us in everything we do.

How will your experience benefit you in the future?

This experience has taught me so much about myself and the world, and has pushed me to continue to embrace my desire to travel the world and change it. There are so many people with health disparities, and in my future career, I am excited to keep this experience in my heart as I share my knowledge with people who can make world-changing decisions.