Job Description


SPECIAL NOTICE ABOUT CITIZENSHIP:
Candidates who are dual citizens of Ecuador and the U.S. are not eligible to serve with Peace Corps Ecuador. Volunteer safety is of paramount importance, and the protections of U.S. citizenship promote Volunteer safety. If anyone holding dual U.S.

and Ecuadorian citizenship were to face a legal, safety, or other emergency situation in Ecuador, the Peace Corps' ability to intervene would be limited.

If you hold citizenship with both the U.S. and Ecuador, we encourage you to look at other opportunities with Peace Corps.

Ecuador is a very multicultural country. Although geographically small, Ecuador's four regions are home to some of Earth's greatest ecosystems.

As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador, you will have the opportunity to collaborate with Ecuadorian communities while gaining experience living and working in this rich geographic and cultural tapestry.

Health and Well-being Promoters encourage youth in rural and underserved areas in Ecuador through the provision of key information and skills development for healthy lifestyles.

Volunteers provide technical assistance through health promotion and education activities with their counterparts at the Ministry of Public Health and other local agencies and organizations.

They work within the primary healthcare model, coordinating with health professionals, community leaders, and other health organizations in order to link youth and their communities with resources and services.

Volunteers and their counterparts seek to increase information and options available for youth to exercise more control over their lives, focusing on one or more of the following areas:

promoting healthy lifestyles (including improving nutrition and physical activity, and avoiding drugs and alcohol), sanitation, hygiene, sexual and reproductive health.

The greatest health needs and priorities identified by the Ecuadorian government are related to non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, cerebral vascular diseases, and hypertension.

Malnutrition is a recurring problem, with undernutrition affecting approximately 30% of children under 5 years of age. Obesity increases in prevalence in each age group.

There are also many needs associated with sexual education and reproductive health, including preventing teen pregnancy and preventing transmission of Sexually Transmitted Infections such as HIV.

For instance, 20% of births in the country are from mothers under 20 years of age. Therefore, the promotion of healthy lifestyles in youth is an area of focus for Volunteers. These health education activities take place in schools, homes, workplaces, and in general community settings.

Volunteers will work within the two objectives of the Health and Well-being Project:

• Increase the knowledge and skills of youth to improve their health and well-being through health and life skills education: Volunteers will focus their work on youth (between the ages of 10 and 19 years) co-facilitating clubs and camps that provide comprehensive health information to youth and allow them to build their own skills in establishing and promoting healthy lifestyles.
• Increase the capacity of health care workers and other service providers in the community to provide health and life skills education: Volunteers work with health care workers and other service providers in the community to ensure the sustainability of their projects by centering and expanding local knowledge and cultural practices.

As a Peace Corps Volunteer, you will participate in the Peace Corps monitoring, reporting, and evaluation (MRE) process. All Volunteers receive MRE training and submit regular reports. The MRE system helps Peace Corps monitor its progress, report its accomplishments, and evaluate and improve its impact.

Required Skills
Qualified 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 Assistant or Public Health Nurse with expressed interest in public/community health.
• Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition, Agriculture, Health, or Nursing.

Desired Skills
Competitive candidates will have one or more of the following criteria:

• Experience or interest in needs assessments, health and wellness, nutrition, gardening, hygiene, teenage pregnancy, and STI prevention and education, focusing on youth populations.
• Strong facilitation skills, organizational skills, capacity building, and assessment and leadership skills. Nursing experience is also desirable.

Living Conditions


HOUSING:
Trainees live with a host family during the 9 weeks of training.

After swearing-in, Volunteers then live with a new host family in their community for at least the first four months of service.

Peace Corps Ecuador carefully selects host families in the community prior to Volunteer arrival. Living with a host family increases Volunteer safety, acceptance, integration, and language acquisition.

Volunteers are encouraged to live with a host family throughout their entire service, as this is the norm for most adults, including college-educated professionals, who generally live with their parents until they get married and start a family of their own.

COMMUNITY LIFE:
Volunteers live in urban, semi-urban, and rural communities across the Andean mountain and Amazonian regions. All houses have electricity, but outages can occur. While many homes have indoor toilets, latrines are common in rural areas.

Common foods include rice, potatoes, meats, seafood, and vegetables. Soups are popular and fruit smoothies are common. It is possible to be vegetarian, but difficult for vegans. Maximum flexibility around accepting local foods is essential for strong integration.

Volunteers travel on public buses between communities and cities. Travel by boat is common in the Amazon region, while biking is popular throughout the country.

Ecuadorian weather conditions are temperate year-round in the mountain valleys, a humid subtropical environment, and rainforest lowlands, with two seasons: rainy and dry.

Traveling with layers is recommended.

During Pre-Service Training, Volunteers will live in communities at around 9,500 feet in elevation and will be supported in learning how to adapt to high altitude conditions.

Each job location and counterpart organization will have its unique benefits and challenges. It's up to each individual to adapt into that reality and make it a positive experience.


APPEARANCE:

Ecuadorians dress professionally for work in a style that translates to "business casual." How one dresses is important for successful integration.

It is important to keep hair neat and clean, and beards trimmed. In general, tattoos should be covered, and visible facial piercings removed in the workplace.


TECHNOLOGY:
Phone service is reliable but calling the U.S. is expensive. Many towns and cities have internet cafes, and many shops/restaurants offer Wi-Fi.

PCVs have found that bringing a laptop or tablet, while not a requirement, facilitates completing assignments during training and to access and share technical resources during service.

As an alternative to bringing your own laptop, PCVs may complete assignments and access resources with computers at the Training Center.

CULTURE:
Ecuadorians are typically very social and curious. Volunteers can expect to socialize and engage with family and neighbors through the community. Locals are likely to ask personal questions to better understand U.S. culture and the Volunteer. You may encounter stereotypes about what U.S. Americans look like or behave like. Your outward appearance may bring about curiosity and questions about your nationality or family history.

Volunteers may find that local customs are very traditional and must use their judgment to determine the best way to approach sharing personal values in their communities.

We strive to create an atmosphere of mutual respect and tolerance.

We encourage Volunteers to be open to multicultural Ecuadorian values and views. The Peace Corps supports Volunteers throughout service by promoting intercultural competence, curiosity, and understanding.

Language Skills Additional Information

PC Ecuador recommends candidates meet one of the following, criteria but there are no pre-requisite language requirements for this position.

A. Completed 4 years of high school Spanish coursework
B. Completed minimum 2 semesters of Spanish college‐level coursework
C. Proficiency in another romance language (e.g. French, Portuguese, Italian)

Volunteers in Ecuador live, learn, and work in Spanish. They should be prepared to make an ongoing commitment to learning Spanish throughout the two years of service.

Peace Corps Trainees receive classes and support while learning Spanish but will need to dedicate substantial time to practicing language in day-to-day life.

Trainees must demonstrate an intermediate level of oral proficiency at the end of the training program in order to continue their service.

Peace Corps Ecuador highly encourages all applicants to begin working on their Spanish by taking classes or tutoring sessions prior to departing for Ecuador.

Trainees who arrive in country with low levels of Spanish sometimes find reaching proficiency challenging within the 9-week training period.

Couples Comments
Peace Corps Ecuador is happy to receive cross-sector couples for this program.

In order to be accepted as a couple, your partner must qualify and be accepted for the following position:

Youth and Families Development Promoter

Couples should expect living conditions to be the same for them as for single Peace Corps Volunteers.

Those serving together as a couple can expect to live apart from each other only during the 9 weeks of training as this provides the best conditions for integration and language learning.

Couples will then live together with the same host family during the first four months in their community of service.

After the initial four months in your assigned community, Volunteers are eligible to live independently if they can identify a living situation in the community that meets Peace Corps' housing criteria.

Some communities may not have a live-alone option and all PCVs, including couples, must be open to the possibility of living with a host family during their entire service.

Some of the opportunities of serving as a couple include having a built-in support system and the possibility of creating synergy on projects.

Some potential challenges include additional challenges in language acquisition if English is spoken at home, and potential integration challenges if the couple spends too much time together, without including other community members.

The Peace Corps works to foster safe and productive assignments for same-sex couples, and same-sex couples are not placed in countries where homosexual acts are criminalized.

Because of this, same-sex couple placements are more limited than heterosexual couple placements.

During the application process Recruiters and Placement Officers work closely with same-sex couple applicants to understand current placement opportunities

Language Requirements Information
There are no pre-requisite language requirements for this position.

---