Health Education Volunteer
Peace Corps
- Crna Gora Albanija
- Stalan
- Puno radno vreme
Youth health and well-being is an increasingly important area in Albania, as the government seeks to empower children and youth to be civically engaged and lead healthy and productive lives. As a Health Education Volunteer, you will contribute to these goals by teaching and co-teaching life skills and health education to individual grade levels ranging from elementary to high school. You will work closely with teachers to develop four main types of curricula: biology, physical education, natural science, and elementary education. You will also collaborate with school-based staff during primary classes, free education hours, project classes, or in school level projects.Co-teaching, co-facilitation and training comprise a significant part of Peace Corps Albania's Youth Health and Well-being project. You will work alongside an Albanian teacher in the classroom, as well as help train school-based staff in addressing life skills and health education topics. Outside of your work in the classroom, you will have opportunities to collaborate with students and teachers in several schools within a region to co-organize locally prioritized projects, clubs, and camps supporting extra-curricular activities, focused on healthy decision-making You will coordinate your work with available services in your community, such as: health care workers, local NGOs, Child Protection Units, Police, parental committees, and community leaders. This will allow you to build relationships and plan collaborative activities to effectively support the health and well-being of children and youth. This could involve providing basic health education, raising awareness of safe and healthy sexual and reproductive health practices, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) prevention, as addressing other emerging health, social and environmental issues, and working with children and youth to develop the life skills necessary to make responsible and healthy decisions that positively impact their lives and the lives of those around them.During the summer, you will have the opportunity to lead camps and other youth development activities in partnership with schools and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or facilitate youth-centered projects such as, Girl Scouts, Outdoor Ambassadors (an environmental-themed afterschool program begun by Volunteers), and Girls Leading our World (GLOW) camps. You may also develop summer youth camps on your own utilizing the Peace Corps Albania Life Skills Manual, tutor students in school subjects (e.g. Sports, Arts, English), help develop student government in schools, or contribute to projects that foster youth employability.You will likely have more than one primary counterpart, depending on the projects or activities you are involved in. You will work with a number of school-based staff who lead health education classes, and sometimes with representatives of NGOs in the community, as well as government public health representatives. Locating motivated community members to collaborate on these diverse projects will demand a concerted effort on your part. For this reason, it is important that you develop strong relationships in your community and commit yourself to improving your Albanian language skills, as well as bring a high level of self-initiative, determination, flexibility and a positive attitude.Request Type155 Health ExtensionPostAlbania and MontenegroRequired SkillsQualified candidates will have an expressed interest in the health education and life skills area, working with children and youth, AND meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in any discipline and a strong desire to work as a Health Education Teacher
- 5 years professional work experience
- Strong desire to work with, develop and coach children and youth, as well as work in the classroom setting with school-based staff, and collaborate with other service providers and community partners
- Bachelor of Arts/Science Degree in Education, Nutrition, Health, Public Health, or Nursing
- Teaching, co-teaching, or tutoring primary, middle, high school students, or adults
- Developing and implementing clubs and camps for children, students, or young adults
- Ability to network and develop partnerships in small communities
During your service, you will spend most of your time in your community but may travel periodically to the closest larger town to access supplies and services (including an ATM), or to Tirana or other cities in Albania for official Peace Corps business. You should be prepared to walk long distances (several miles) regularly, often on uneven ground. Peace Corps will provide you with several items related to health and safety (water filter, smoke alarm, fire extinguisher, medical kit, and other items).Volunteers are not permitted to take leave during PST, as well as during their first 3 three months and last 3 months in their community.Language RequirementNoneLanguage Skills Additional InformationPre-Service Training (PST) will focus on language and cross-cultural adaptation. Albanian (Shqip) is a unique language, not closely related to any other. It is also a challenging language to learn. Your language training will focus on developing your competency as a communicator, not grammar skills. Language acquisition is difficult and will consume a substantial part of your time and energy during training.You will speak in Albanian for most of your service. PST will give you the basis for continuing to develop your language skills on your own. Diligent commitment to learning Albanian during PST and throughout your service will help you acquire language skills that will be critical to building relationships within your communities and the success of your projects.Following PST, all Volunteers are required to retain a tutor for at least the initial 6 months of service.Primary SectorHealthAccepts CouplesNoApply By01-Jul-2024Know By01-Sep-2024Language Requirements InformationThere are no pre-requisite language requirements for this position.Total Number of Positions Available15Assignment Length (months)24Accepting Applications?YesProgramPCVTEFL certificate programNoPost to LinkedIn?No