After 10 years living and working abroad, I was thinking that I should move back to the U.S. after I graduate with my master's in May 2024. However, I started reflecting on all the things I wanted to do before settling down and one big one came to mind: the Peace Corps. I have always wanted to volunteer while traveling in developing countries but I never got the chance to... I feel like I have to give back in some way to the countries that have hosted me and I would be remiss not to do so before moving back to the U.S. and settling down. Since I have spent my 10 years abroad in Asia and Latin America and I have never been to Europe nor Africa, I decided to look for volunteer opportunities on these two continents. I found the perfect role that uses a lot of the knowledge and skills I have picked up in my masters's in Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning. I applied for it and I was invited, so in June 2024, I may be heading to Moldova as a Community Development Facilitator.
There is a small chance I will be creating e-learning in this role. However, I am confident it will help me develop several soft skills (project management, working with subject matter experts, attaining buy-in on projects, etc.) that will make me a stronger instructional designer and asset in the training and development field. Furthermore, the role entails carrying out needs assessments and evaluations using interviews and surveys, which are skills I am currently developing in my master's program. I am excited to put them to use. Over the course of my two years of service, I will be updating this blog with work that I do that is related to instructional design and organizational performance improvement.
Here is an official description of what my job will entail:
A Community Development Facilitator Volunteer begins service with a strong emphasis on language acquisition and relationship-building, which is fundamental to cultural and community integration. They further seek to better understand local needs, priorities, and resources by conducting community needs assessments. Volunteers and local partners use this insight to develop a plan of action for subsequent collaboration.
Community Development Facilitators are encouraged to further engage stakeholders by initiating clubs with various community groups. They also support youth in developing leadership skills, as well as plan and facilitate informal educational programs.
A Community Development Facilitator’s work focuses on strengthening host organizations’ internal capacity and ability to develop partnerships with other community stakeholders and increase civic engagement in the communities. This is often through ambitious projects focused on internal organizational development or designed to address community need(s). Volunteers may need to work with multiple community partners on different tasks. Thus, Volunteers start out spending most of their working hours with their primary partner organization to achieve success and then work increasingly with other community institutions. By the end of their first year, the Volunteer is to have defined and given shape to their service in the community. They should then be in a position to play a strong role in supporting partner organizations with reaching ambitious milestones moving forward.
Community Development Facilitators work within a defined project framework to achieve three objectives:
Support local partners to strengthen community organizations’ capacity to achieve their missions.
Promote collaboration among community organizations that support social inclusion and civic engagement.
Facilitate increased civic engagement and skill building of community members.
Although the first objective has the largest potential impact on sustainable local development and is a strategic priority for Peace Corps Moldova, experience shows that Volunteers spend their time getting to know the community during their first year of service. This allows them to establish credibility and define their niche to assist their partners and community with achieving their goals. Sometimes this means Volunteers work on the third objective during their first year.
Each Community Development Facilitator has a unique experience, depending on the needs of their counterparts and community partners, but generally their activities include:
Support for local partners in strengthening community organizations’ capacity to achieve their mission, possibly including:
Conduct participatory organizational capacity assessment (using tools like SWOT analysis); Improve short and long-term planning (create an organizational calendar, initiate regular team meetings, etc.);
Implement trainings to improve daily operations (e.g. email, spreadsheets, records management);
Support advancement in project design and management and local volunteer management; and
Improve marketing and awareness-raising techniques.
Promote collaboration among community organizations that support social inclusion and civic engagement, including:
Facilitate exercises to map the organization’s operating environment;
Support creation of communities of practice; and
Strengthen host organizations’ relationships with stakeholders through workshops and peer-learning;
Facilitate increased civic engagement and skill building of community members:
Organize community volunteering activities;
Support youth in service-learning projects;
Facilitate youth clubs on topics like leadership, computer skills, English, and ecology; and train community members on career development skills.