MCC Service Opportunity

Assignment Title: SALT/YAMEN: Youth Peacebuilding Worker – Action For Peace And Development

Term: August 19, 2015 – July 16, 2016 FTE: 1.0 Location: Soroti, Date Required: August 19, 2015

Synopsis:

MCC is an equal opportunity employer, committed to employment equity. MCC values diversity and invites all qualified candidates to apply.

Program details see salt.mcc.org or yamen.mcc.org

A volunteer to work with youth, peacebuilding training and administrative support for a relatively new peacebuilding organization in Eastern Uganda.

Qualifications:

All MCC workers are expected to exhibit a commitment to: a personal Christian faith and discipleship; active church membership; and nonviolent peacemaking.

1. Bachelor degree in social science, development studies, peacebuilding, or another related field preferred. 2. Passion to work with youth; experience working with youth groups an asset. 3. Ability to conduct trainings and write reports. 4. English language proficiency 5. Willingness to learn local languages

Assignment Narrative: Action for Peace and Development (APED) – Uganda is a faith based organization affiliated with the Baptist church. APED started in 2012 with the intention of empowering youth as agents of change for peaceful communities, after realizing that youth were either victims or perpetrators of conflicts in the communities. APED is located in , Teso Sub-Region, Northeastern Uganda, East Africa, and approximately 400 kilometers from , the capital city of Uganda.

APED is currently working in Soroti and districts of Teso region with 100 youth (4groups/Clubs) in areas of community peacebuilding and conflict resolution, human rights, entrepreneurship (income generation), gender and development.

APED would like a SALT/YAMEN er to work with youth in various peace building and development initiatives in the Teso communities. The volunteer would report to the project officer and would be based at the main office in Soroti Town.

Duties:

The principle aim of the job is to provide assistance for community peacebuilding and encouragement for youth and to take part in any team work/ obligation as assigned to undertake, such as:

1. Responsibility for providing documentation and timely reporting of youth activities. 2. Research and document on traditional peace building in those communities that could be rolled out to other communities 3. Conducting trainings in peacebuilding and any other peace and development related courses. 4. Creation of a database at APED Office. 5. Writing of APED newsletter . 6. Periodic field visits and monitoring in the project areas 7. Working with partners in the area of APED operations. 8. Maintaining and enforcing compliance with Ugandan laws, Christian integrity, and APED policies. 9. Perform any other duty assigned to him/her by management.

Location Description:

The worker will be based in Soroti town, which is about 6 hours northeast of Kampala. Soroti is the main municipal, commercial, and administrative center of Soroti district, Teso sub-region, in Eastern Uganda, lying near Lake Kyoga. The population of Soroti is around 66,000 people. Now that there has been stability in the region for several years, the town is growing and many new businesses are opening.

The climate in Soroti is moderate during rainy season (around 21 – 28 C, 72-82 F) and hot, dusty and sometimes windy during the dry season. The staple foods are cassava, millet, sweet potatoes, rice, sorghum, greens, beans, peanuts, meat, chicken, fish, and tropical fruits like mangoes, bananas, pineapples, papayas, etc.

There is a referral hospital and several medical clinics in Soroti that offer medical care, but more serious medical issues are referred to Kampala, a six hour drive, or to Nairobi, a one hour flight.

The worker would live with a host family in a modern cement house with running water and electricity. Water, electricity, and internet are fairly stable, though occasional outages are common, especially during rainy season. The speed and bandwidth of internet is slower than what is available in North America.

Although the worker would have to be careful about petty theft, Soroti town is a safe town with no major security concerns.

English is the main language of education and business in Uganda, and the work with APED would be done in English. However, many people, especially in the rural areas surrounding Soroti, do not know English and/or prefer to use their local languages, which are Ateso and Kumam. Therefore the worker would be strongly encouraged to learn one of the local languages.

Challenges :

• There are poor road networks linking the communities, and there are no paved roads except for the one that runs from Soroti to Kampala, which is under construction. During the rainy seasons, the roads can be slippery and wet, and there are many potholes. • Currently, APED does not have any vehicles, and the means of transportation are boda bodas (motorcycle taxis) and bicycles. Traveling to nearby communities may involve very bumpy and/or strenuous travels. • There is heavy use of peanut products in daily food preparation. • Malaria is endemic in this area, but it can be prevented by using malaria medicine, sleeping under a mosquito net, using bug repellant, etc. • Typhoid is also endemic in the area. There is a vaccine available for typhoid, and it can be prevented by drinking boiled or filtered water and avoiding raw, unpeeled fruits and vegetables. Brucellosis is also common in this area. • There are medical clinics and a referral hospital in Soroti town which will be sufficient for common illnesses, but the nearest place for care for more serious medical conditions is Kampala, which is a six hour drive from Soroti. • Professional counseling and mental health services are extremely limited. • During the dry season, it can get very hot and dusty. • There is a common perception that foreigners have a lot of money, and foreigners are often presented with many requests for money and financial assistance. Current volunteers work with their host families and supervisors to determine the best way to respond to these requests.