Health Extension Volunteer in The Gambia (Africa)

Project Description

The Gambia’s Ministry of Health is mandated by law to oversee all health activities in the Gambia. For more than five decades, Community Health Facilitator Volunteers have supported it in delivering this noble goal and by extension improving the country’s health outlook.

The Peace Corps The Gambia’s Community Health program seeks to continue to improve the health status and quality of life of Gambian communities, particularly of youth, women, and children, by promoting positive health-related practices using behavior change principles.

Volunteers work to support this goal by:
• Co-training community members on behaviors and best practices that promote maternal, neonatal, and children’s health.
• Co-teaching community members appropriate infant and young child feeding practices, including the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life.
• Raising awareness for the prevention of malaria, including promoting the use of insecticide treated bed nets.
• Promoting Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH), including the improvement or construction of community water and sanitation systems.
• Creating linkages to youth-friendly services.
• Sharing best practices on non-communicable disease prevention; and
• Co-teaching youth health and life-skills

The Peace Corps The Gambia promotes gender awareness and girls’ education and empowerment. Volunteers will receive training on gender challenges in country and will have the opportunity to implement gender-related activities that are contextually appropriate. During service, Volunteers will look for ways to work with community members in a culturally appropriate way to promote gender-equitable norms and increase girls’ sense of agency. As part of their work, Volunteers will monitor and report on their efforts and impact.

The Peace Corps enjoys a long and positive history with The Gambia. The first Peace Corps Volunteers arrived in 1967, and since then more than 1,800 Volunteers have worked with Gambian men and women to build strong relationships and make a lasting impact on their communities.

Required Skills

Qualified candidates will have an expressed interest in working in the health sector and one or more of the following criteria:
• Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in any field
OR
• 5 years' professional work experience