| Description: |
Positions open on a rolling basis
Tostan has long benefited from the talents of international volunteers who each year bring a wide range of skills to the organization. Tostan is now building on this tradition and addressing key organizational needs at a regional level through the creation of the position of Regional Volunteer (RV). Since January 2008, Tostan has been placing RVs in five regions of Senegal: Kaolack, Tambacounda, Kolda, Zinguinchor, and Fouta.
It is Tostan’s vision that each of our regional offices will eventually become autonomously operating NGOs capable of sustaining important programming for African communities in the region while participating in Tostan-supported, community-led development efforts across regions and countries. The regional volunteers will play an integral role in this long-term transition towards self-sufficiency and autonomy at a regional level.
Responsabilities
1. Assist staff to professionally present Tostan’s work in the region and maintain a historical overview of Tostan's presence in the region.
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Collaborate with regional staff to gather regional statistics (from government statistics, UNICEF studies, etc) and create promotional materials including brochures, maps, power point presentation, bulletin boards, etc. (i.e. Tambacounda at a glance)
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Support regional staff to generate monthly activities reports for national coordinators
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Work with staff to create/update office history document
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Work with Project Assistant Volunteers to portray villages and individuals participating in programming in region through written descriptions, photography, and video.
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Help regional team to develop a media relations strategy and manage key media contacts at the regional level (radio, local news bureaus, etc).
2. Build staff capacity
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Collaborate with Project Assistant Volunteer (if one is assigned to project/s in region) to edit and expand upon staff reports and work with staff to explain changes made
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Demonstrate use of self-guided training materials such as instructional English DVD
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Demonstrate completion of other tasks to personnel
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Train staff in use basic functions of Microsoft Word and Excel
3. Assist staff to create and maintain an electronic database of regional project reports, portraits, declaration documents, etc.
4. Support staff and Project Assistant Volunteers to submit quality, timely reports about regional projects
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Assist staff to communicate with donors to determine formatting for and type of information to include in reports
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Assist staff to document donor needs for future use
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Translate and expand upon quarterly and annual reports (Francophone countries)
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Review grant proposals and collect information from staff in the field in order to write quarterly and annual reports (Anglophone countries)
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Instruct staff how to post final reports to Tostan’s server in Thiès
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Provide staff access to, instruct staff in use of, and assist staff with maintenance of Tostan project database posted on Google Documents
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Help create sustainable systems through which staff submit reports before deadlines
5. Improve public relations and increase opportunities for collaboration with regional NGOs, Peace Corps Volunteers, government officials, health administrators, etc. by means of direct communications, radio broadcasts, etc.
6. Improve organization-wide communication
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Add contact information for Tostan’s regional coordinators and informational secretaries to Tostan’s all-staff contact list posted on Google Documents
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Update existing contact information on list
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Train regional informational secretaries how to maintain list
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Train regional staff in the basic functions of Skype, e-mail, Google Documents, Google Groups, and Tostan’s server in Thiès
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Train regional personnel who receive Tostan.org e-mail addresses how to transfer their contacts from their old e-mail accounts and use the new account
7. Help to align volunteer resources with organizational needs by encouraging regional staff’s use of newly created Volunteer Request Form
8. Document need for repairs to and materials for volunteer housing and submit to Volunteer Coordinator quarterly
Qualifications
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Written and oral competency in French
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Office management/organizational skills
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Knowledge
of G-mail, Google Groups, Google Documents, Google Calendars, Microsoft
Word, Excel, and other Internet and computer programs
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Strong written skills
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Ability to work independently, and be flexible in a fast-paced, multicultural work environment
Benefits
As a non-profit organization who works to
commit the maximum level of resources to our communities, we rely on
volunteers to cover many of their own costs during their
volunteerships. These costs include expenses such as travel between
their home countries and work countries, medical costs, and other
personal incidentals such as meals, personal travel, clothes, etc. We
in turn do our best to commit to covering housing and weekday lunches
for all of our volunteers.
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Housing within office complex
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Travel expenses for work-related trips
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Internet access in office during reasonable hours of the day and night
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Hands on experience with an internationally recognized NGO
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Opportunity to develop highly sought-after skills in project management, training, and written and oral communication in a multicultural, multilingual environment
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Development of Curriculum Vitae
Trainings provided
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Basic skills in national language
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map-making software
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facilitation of computer and other instructional trainings
To learn more about the Tostan Africa Volunteer Program and the application process, please click here.
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