More than the usual number of challenges

IOWA CITY — One of the 24 Mandela Washington Fellows from Africa studying global business at the University of Iowa this summer has already proven her mettle — simply by getting to Iowa.

“The faces are always so welcoming,” says Tertu Iileka, 32, who lives in Windhoek, Namibia, on the southwest coast of Africa. “The people we have interacted with — so friendly, super helpful. People go out of their way for you.”

But it was a struggle becoming one of the Fellows in the Young African Leaders Initiative.

Iileka, who manages a natural resources program in Namibia, had applied for the Mandela Fellowship four times without being selected. She was not alone — some 50,000 Africans apply for the six-week fellowships every year, with only 700 selected.

But this year, she learned in March she had been selected as an alternate.

“To an extent, it was disappointing because I didn’t think there was a way anybody would pull out of such an opportunity,” Iileka said. “To be selected as an alternate was good and shows my application and interview were good, but it was more of who would actually say no to this?”

But then in May, the Namibian embassy called to tell her someone had dropped out. She was now a Fellow, going to the United States.

“I was so excited and super happy, I had to sit down,” Iileka said.

Another challenge

Iileka didn’t tell anyone her big news because she wanted to first tell her mother, Maria Nghipandulwa — her No. 1 cheerleader, who had always advised, “Keep it up, my girl. Well done.”

But her mother was ill and hospitalized, and Iileka wanted to deliver the news in person.

“The only thing I could think of was, I can’t wait to tell my mom,” Iileka said. “When I went to the hospital, she was not in a good mood, was not feeling well. I needed her to be very excited so I waited to tell her the news when she was feeling much better.”

That never happened. Her mother died May 27.

“I never got to tell her,” Iileka said. “For a moment I thought about pulling out (of the Fellowship program) because I wasn’t in the right space of mind to continue. But a voice in the back of my head kept telling me not to cancel.”

Iileka said she found strength in her mother’s oft repeated, encouraging words, propelling her forward on her journey to the United States.

But the complications weren’t over.

In Namibian culture, a parent is buried in their home village, with two weeks of traditional rituals. Her mother’s home village was nearly an eight-hour drive from Windhoek, where Iileka lived.

Because of the funeral, Iileka’s interview for a visa was pushed back. She had a mound of paperwork to complete for the Fellowship.

Iileka returned to Windhoek on June 9, nine days before her flight to the United States. She said she was behind on just about everything in her life, including getting caught up on her demanding, full-time job.

But she got it done. She got to the United States, then to Iowa.

The Fellowships

The Mandela Washington Fellowships were established in 2014 to connect young African leaders to experts in global business.

In Iowa, the Institute of International Business partners with the Tippie College of Business and the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center to host the Fellows, a program now in its eighth year. Students receive an International Business Certificate from the institute upon completion of the program.

The Fellows also visit Iowa businesses.

Iileka is the deputy project manager at the Community Conservation Fund of Namibia, supporting natural resources management and livelihood activities in the country’s conservancies and community forests.

She has a master's degree in integrated water resources management and a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology and geography. She also is a certified project management professional from the Project Management Institute.

Upon completion of the fellowship, Iileka plans to support efforts to market Indigenous natural products harvested by community members, according to her fellowship bio. Her goal is to ensure that communities get a fair share of benefits from the commercialization of the natural resources they conserve.