Adam Nothem Peace Corps Volunteer

For the past two years, Adam has been living in a rural village in southern Tanzania doing volunteer work as a Health Extension Agent for the United States Peace Corps.

After arriving in a village where running water, electricity, and reliable transportation are unavailable, integrating to the local culture, language, and temperature were as much a priority as being a health educator. The health topics that he typically covers are nutrition, sanitation, reproductive health, gender empowerment, HIV/AIDS, and he has a special focus in malaria.

His focus in malaria began as a pre-med student at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. What first drew his attention to malaria is the overwhelming number of people that it affects each and every year now and throughout history. Seeing the need to help, he founded and organized a fundraising event at his university called the Oshkosh Walk Against Malaria. This event, which occurred for three years, raised local awareness to the worldwide malaria concern and it also raised money to send hundreds of bednets to malaria-burdened areas.  He went on to do his Honors Thesis on “The Occurrence of Malaria in Anolis poecilopus,” a lizard in the forests of Panama.

After graduating with awards in both leadership and advocacy of marginalized peoples, Adam decided to take a more direct approach and applied for the US Peace Corps, a program that favors grassroots development strategies and a long-term commitment.

Since arriving, he has seen the ongoing presence of illnesses within the village, especially with malaria. Malaria is a disease diagnosed nearly a dozen times a day at his village’s clinic, yet continues to be met with relative complacency by his community. He has had to develop novel teaching mediums to successfully promote behavior change in regards to health. Adam has extended his time here in Tanzania to include a third year so that he can continue to help Tanzanians like those he has met in his community, his friends that have welcomed him completely and have given him uncountable reasons to stay.