The closet door is opening – but not because Adam Martin's coming out. He's going back in. Leaving behind four years as a prevention specialist with Community AIDS Resource and Education Services in Kalamazoo, where he educates men who have sex with men about HIV, the humanitarian is volunteering for a year at a village in north-central Namibia. And his sexual orientation won't be discussed.
"Working with the gay community so closely for so many years, as a career and personally … it's going to be a huge step," says Martin, 26, who will be traveling as part of WorldTeach, a non-profit organization that helps educate people in developing countries.
Fascinated with the continent from a young age – 'How could white people come from Africa?' he thought as a kid – he based most of his junior high reports on Namibia, a region in Africa. When his mom heard he'd be heading there, she wasn't surprised: "She said, 'You've wanted to do this since you were a child.'"
And so he is.
Aside from teaching English and math to children beginning early next year, he'll bring his prevention specialist knack – and skills obtained from a support group he runs for young gay men – to a country devastated by the AIDS crisis.
You're leaving soon. Are you nervous? Excited? What's going through your mind?
All of that, yeah. And it was interesting because about a couple of weeks ago, people started asking me, 'Are you getting nervous?' And I don't know who asked me that – like it's really comforting to even ask that question – but it hit me: 'Oh my god, I think I am getting a little nervous.' A large part of that is not as much as 'I am going to rural Namibia' as much as, 'I'm leaving my friends and a really ideal job and a fabulous little life in Kalamazoo behind' – and I don't know what's going to happen after Namibia.
What are some specific concerns about actually going there?
The basics. Like, am I going to get there and realize I don't have a pair of contacts? Really not having access to some of the basic amenities that I just take for granted – if I run out of toothpaste and such. … I'm obviously a little nervous about being gay in a culture where homosexuality is very taboo and, I think, overall. (Also) I think just being immersed in a different culture without your friends at hand. It's one thing to start a new job, or a new marriage or divorce or whatever it is that you're going through, but you always have your friends nearby. And you always have access to macaroni and cheese and peanut butter and those things in life that give you very basic levels of comfort – and to go without that will be a whole new experience.
Back to the gay issue that you brought up – how out can you be? How will you handle it?
I don't really think there's a restriction to whether or not I'm out; it's a personal decision, and WorldTeach is a fantastic organization; they're affiliated with Harvard University, they're pretty liberal. For me, I'm choosing to … go 'back into the closet' that I more-or-less flailed out of eight years ago, and it's really a matter of integrity for me. I think in America, you have a lot of integrity if you come out and you're who you are and you stand up in the light of your truth. But in a different context, a different culture with a different mission and a different kind of change you're seeking to affect, I think being more private in general and observing more than sharing about myself personally will be personally rewarding – as well as better for everyone concerned.
You could continue your work here, and obviously the U.S. – and Michigan – needs your help. So why are you taking it to another country?
It's a quieter crisis for us in developed nations now, and the impact the disease continues to have on the gay community is tremendous. So I see how a devastating disease essentially brought us down, and the way in which our community has been overlooked by the government, by our fellow citizens – and it motivated us, in many ways, to come as far as we have in reaching for equality. And I think gay people and transgender people have a very unique ability to see the inner 'connectiveness' of other people regardless of nationality or sexual orientation or whatever restriction we tend to place on ourselves – and I think I probably am just flowing along with that trend, and going along with my feelings here and seeing that this will be personally fulfilling.
To find out how to assist with Adam Martin's volunteer trip to Namibia, visit www.firstgiving.com/ajmartin. You can also follow his day-to-day expedition experiences at http://www.blognamibia.blogspot.com.
