Category: Job Postings

You can only have one active Peace Corps Volunteer application, so choose a position that best fits your skills and interest. You have the opportunity to tell us if you’d like to be considered for other openings and more about the ones that interest you most!

Project Description

Health Education (HE) Volunteers are assigned to a community in which they co-teach Health Education at a middle school or combined elementary and high school, and/or work within a regional community visiting several schools co-teaching lessons with “Life Skills” teachers.

A significant component of Peace Corps Albania’s Health Education project is to co-teach students as well as to help train teachers on Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health. Some Volunteers may also liaison with a health education unit or at a community health center to provide staff trainings, which have a long history of being under-resourced. Volunteer placement is typically in smaller towns and rural areas, and no Health Volunteers are placed in the capital city of Tirana.

In addition to classroom teaching and facilitating other health education trainings, Volunteers may also liaison with local health directorates on community-wide health promotion and education campaigns.

In the summer months, HE Volunteers will be leading summer camps and other youth development efforts/activities by working through the schools, or with NGOs that focus their efforts on youth/children, or by taking part in youth-centered projects such as Model UN, Outdoor Ambassadors (an environmental-themed afterschool program begun by Volunteers), Girls Leading our World (GLOW) camps, etc. Volunteers may develop or participate in summer youth camps, promote “life skills” education, tutor students in other school subjects including English; and assist with efforts on the development of school student governments or linkage with projects that promote career development and foster youth employability.

Volunteers, especially those with prior health education-related technical training, may work closely with health education professionals at health centers or NGOs, or with other health professionals, in addition to being at schools and kindergartens to increase their capacities regarding new techniques and methods of teaching preventive health education. Volunteers will also link with NGOs and other community-based organizations to provide basic health education, instruct proper sexual and reproductive health practices, and raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and other emerging health issues.

Some of the HE Volunteers’ work takes place outside the school as well, and Volunteers will likely have more than one main colleague, depending on the projects or activities you are involved in. Health Education Volunteers work with multiple schoolteachers responsible for health education classes, and sometimes with representatives of NGOs (if they are located in the community), as well as with representatives from the District Health Promotion Unit. If you are placed in a school within a community that also has a rural health center, you may also focus on linking directly with the doctors and nurses staffing those facilities and the smaller health posts in the surrounding villages, as well as schools and kindergartens linking them with resources and assistance to improve their skills and implementation of health education efforts. Finding colleagues to work with on diverse projects will not be automatic but will demand a concerted effort on the Volunteer’s part to seek out active community members. For this reason, successful community integration and language acquisition is crucial.

Required Skills

Competitive candidates will have one or more of the following criteria:
• Master of Public Health degree or Master of Arts/Master of Science degree in Public Health
• Certified Physician’s Assistant or Public Health Nurse with expressed interest in public/community health
• Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition, Health, or Nursing

For more information, and to apply, click here.

You can only have one active Peace Corps Volunteer application, so choose a position that best fits your skills and interest. You have the opportunity to tell us if you’d like to be considered for other openings and more about the ones that interest you most!

Project Description

As a Community and Organizational Development (COD) Volunteer, you may be placed with either a local government unit (Municipality Regional Council) or one of a variety of different community-based organizations. Depending on your background, you may be placed with a department within Municipal Unit (Social Services, Planning, or Development Department), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) or other institution. Project activities are focused in several key areas: municipal development, business development, tourism/cultural development and preservation, youth development (including youth employability and job skills) and/or capacity-building in the areas of information and communications management and technology. Post may find a limited number of sites that can utilize Volunteers with education or experience in GIS/Mapping or Information/Communication Technology Development, but this may not likely be the primary focus of one’s site assignment

COD Volunteers often target youth and work to increase their capacities in starting up businesses, developing their entrepreneurial skills, and provide employability trainings to teach skills such as resume writing, cover letter writing, and job interviewing skills. Volunteers and a local counterpart are often the main liaison with their community’s Youth Council, working to develop internship programs, civic awareness campaigns and other community projects.

Depending on the specific placement, your role may be to work in partnership with the key actors in the community, to build the capacity of local institutions, or to increase the involvement of citizens and youth in local decision-making. You may facilitate collaborative activities between local non-governmental organizations, businesses, and citizen groups. You may provide assistance to all sectors of the community in strategic planning or in project design and management. You may also support the development of non-governmental organizations and youth groups, depending on locally- identified needs.

Other potential activities include:
• Coordinating with other Peace Corps Volunteers in the sphere of youth development and employability and implementing grassroots community development projects.
• Providing direction and training within specific areas of expertise; i.e. marketing, administrative, financial, IT or business English.
• Becoming aware of and competent in the use of all available resources for community development; i.e. small project grants, etc.
• Providing support in editing materials that are prepared by your organization in English, basic training in the use of computer hardware and software, and at the same time helping your colleagues improve their business – English skills.
• Improving marketing PR strategies of organizations and businesses.
• Conducting needs assessment surveys to determine development opportunities within the community and organization.
• Building the capacities of your counterparts in management, organizational development, customer service and financial management.
• Promoting networking and partnership-building in communities among business development organizations, local governments, NGOs and citizens groups; and between these groups and outside resources.
• Providing assistance to all sectors of the community in strategic planning or in project design and management.

Despite the challenges, there are many opportunities for change and growth, and increasing attention is being paid to the development of local capacity of local organizations. You will find support for your activities from both the host agencies that have requested you, and from organizations working to promote civil society and institutional development in the country.

Required Skills

Competitive candidates will have one or more of the following criteria:
• Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in any business discipline
• 5 years professional experience in business management

For more information, and to apply, click here.