Public Health Assistant

Rationale:

With this programme, Partners For Conservation would like to contribute to (1) diseases prevention by helping beneficiaries reduce the vulnerability level, (2) promoting health and the wellbeing of communities and enabling initiatives that promote health and (3) prolonging life towards mitigating human-wildlife contamination risks for sustainable conservation.  

About the  programme:

This programme aims at promoting initiatives that  drive  actions for:

• Monitoring health status to identify and solve community health problems
• Diagnosing and investigating health problems and health hazards in the communi
• Informing, educating, and empowering people about health issues
• Mobilizing community partnerships to identify and solve health problems
• Developing policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts
• Linking people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable
• Assuring a competent public and personal healthcare workforce
• Evaluating effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services
• Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems

The overall aim is to to contribute to addressing key issues and cross-cutting issues pertaining public health and sustainable conservation through:

Key issues:

• Assessment and monitoring of beneficiaries’ individual health within their communities to identify health problems and priorities
• Formulation of public policies designed to solve identified health problems and priorities.
• Assuring that all populations have access to appropriate and cost-effective care, including health promotion and disease prevention services.
• Monitoring and diagnosing the health concerns of entire communities and promote healthy practices and behaviours to ensure that populations stay healthy (Vaccination and control of infectious diseases, Safer and healthier foods, Safe drinking water, Healthier mothers and babies and access to family planning etc.
• Education and outreach programmes

Cross cutting issues:

• Water, Sanitation and Hygiene campaigns
• Outreach on communicative and non-communicative diseases, Sexual Transmissible Diseases, Balanced diet to fight malnutrition related diseases, Drug abuses and delinquent behaviours, parasitic diseases, Sexual Reproduction and Health Reproduction, Menstruation Health Management, Water Sanitation and Hygiene
• Family planning
• Outreach on health insurances
• Training on First Aid

 Volunteer for this programme will be working with local beneficiaries and Partners For Conservation field staff including (Project Manager, and Technicians) and other stakeholders including conservation and development agencies as well as the local authorities. In order to provide volunteers/interns with learning opportunities while  contributing to Public Health and Sustainable conservation efforts in Rwanda, volunteers may be delegated to join the team representing Partners For Conservation in functions, meetings and other conservation gathering. Interested applicants must be pro-active and ready to intense fieldwork. There’s no-specific equipment required for this programme. 

About the location:

The volunteer will be based and operate in Musanze district. Musanze is a district in the Northern Province of Rwanda. Its capital city is Ruhengeri which; is also sometimes known as Musanze. Musanze is Rwanda's most mountainous district, containing the largest part of the Volcanoes National Park and its head office at Kinigi. Five of the eight volcanoes of the Virunga chain (Karisimbi, Bisoke, Sabyinyo, Gahinga and Muhabura) are within the district boundaries. It is also in this district that most of Rwanda's mountain gorillas are found, making it the most popular tourist destination in the country. Musanze's capital, Ruhengeri, is one of the largest cities in Rwanda and serves as a hub for tourists.

It is easy for a volunteer to access the rest corners of the country from Musanze for example Musanze is at 1h drive from Gisenyi and the Democratic Republic of Congo border. Gisenyi is known for its super weekends for water sports lovers. Musanze is also at 2h30 drive from Kigali and at 25 minutes to the Cyanika, the Uganda border.

A day as a volunteer varies on a daily basis. However, Partners For Conservation ensures volunteer intervention supports the necessary need and where a volunteer is happy to intervene.  Partners For Conservation supports volunteer’s intervention by providing a comprehensive team involving among others a driver (where necessary), a local interpreter and senior officer/ project manager.  This is key to ensure there’s excellent communication on and off the field for a successful intervention and teamwork. Basically, a volunteer can expect to be involved in the promotion of income generating activities, promotion of initiatives of women, youth, poor, marginalised and disadvantaged, promotion of the social work axed on mobilising local community for Sexual Reproduction Health and Right, Menstruation Health Management, family planning,  advocacy and raising awareness for environmental and public health issues. Through this programme, volunteers can also conduct individual surveys and research to upgrade the current intervention.Thanks to its partnership, Partners For Conservation can also help volunteers in need to find placement for their capstone/practicum.

A volunteer is free agent on the free, public day and on leave. However, volunteers are required to follow rules provided by where they stay this implies that they are called to communicate about their time in and out of the lodge for example. Partners For Conservation recommends the best activities based to those available in and around the town although volunteers are free to choose according to their preferences. For volunteers looking to travel away from their bases (for holidays for example,) they’re requested to dully fill annual leave application forms available at Partners For Conservation. Volunteers are free to do whatever they want except political activities.