Seed Community Development Worker - Bolivia
Summary: Seed participants will serve through MCC Bolivia's partner organizations located in different regions of western Bolivia and focused on issues such as Peacebuilding, Food Security and Community Development in rural and urban areas. At the same time, Seed includes a curriculum of study and reflection focused on the context and for the work assignments of participants. The Seed program has three general components: Reflection, Service and Peacebuilding.
Compensation/Benefits: MCC cover all basic needs (Travel expenses to and from assignment, food & household, housing, and transportation related to assignment). Personal Allowance, vacation allowance, Education for children, Retirement Plan, Life Insurance and Death Benefits, Student Loan reimbursement, Resettlement Allowance, End-of-term benefits.
Qualifications: All MCC workers are expected to exhibit a commitment to: a personal Christian faith and discipleship; active participation in a Christian church or Christian community; and nonviolent peacemaking. MCC is an equal opportunity employer, committed to employment equity. MCC values diversity and invites all qualified candidates to apply.Be between 20-30 years old; single or married couples without children are accepted.
- Flexible attitude to possible changes and unstructured work that may occur during the time of service.
- The ability to speak and write Spanish and/or English is preferred. Participants that do not have Spanish language skills must be dedicated and committed to learning.
- Commitment to get involved in a local church and a local community.
- Ability to learn and adapt to the dynamics and processes of the church, different theological and ecclesial aspects of one's own experience.
- Ability to take initiative and generate new ideas in unstructured community processes.
- Willingness to work with a partner organization and relate in the life of the team with cultural diversities, management styles, communication models, development philosophies, and teamwork.
- Interest in living and working in challenging and remote places that have been marginalized. For example, no infrastructure such as drinking water, energy, good communication signal, and/or transport.
- An open mind and attitude to study and analyze the contextual realities of the community, region, and country during the assignment of service that motivates reflection.
- Interest in the topics of community development, food security, environment, indigenous culture, and peacebuilding.
- Have a level of university education and/or experience and interest in learning from community processes.
- An attitude of perseverance in the context and face of the challenges of daily life with a willingness to participate actively from the perspective of accompaniment.
Invitations to serve with MCC are contingent on the successful outcome of criminal background check(s).
Key Responsibilities: vary from assignment to assignment. After in-country orientation, the service period will begin with an initial induction phase with each participant/partner, after which a full description of the assignment will be completed.
While Seed participants are not responsible for the institutional relationship between MCC and our partner organizations, MCC places great emphasis on the positive impact that MCC service workers can have by building relationships, social capital, and diversity within partner organizations and communities.
Seed participants will also take on specific tasks that support partner institutions and communities. Sometimes this can involve accompanying activities and finding distinct ways to serve when possible, such as leading a workshop with children, youth, or family, promoting soil conservation in a rural village, making follow-up visits to orchards, working alongside community members on an irrigation or gardening project, providing after-school help to children and any number of small office tasks that help relieve pressure on local organizations and build solidarity between people from different backgrounds.
Food Security and/or working with youth in El Alto:
In this urban environment, the service opportunities revolve around food security through urban family gardening with Aymara women and families. Many women and families live in marginalized, low-income neighborhoods where there is limited access to fresh and affordable fruits and vegetables. Establishing family gardens allows these families better access to these food items, an opportunity to trade with neighbors for other goods they might need, to sell produce, or spend less money on the purchase of fresh produce. Additionally, the process of establishing and maintaining gardens has created a network of solidarity including other families with gardens through which together they learn about gardening and food preparation finding new ways to consume a wide variety of produce. This experience might also be linked to working with youth in areas such as environmental awareness and its connection to peacebuilding in a local, urban context.
Rural food security and/or income generation in Norte de Potosí:
While this service opportunity would most likely be living in a small city, the service work would mostly be working with food security in rural areas. The economies and agrarian lifestyle of many small farming communities have been less and less sustainable in the midst of more globalized economies that force people to urban centers to look for work. In the process, many younger generations lose touch and interest in agrarian life, yet the economic possibilities in the cities are offering neither dignified employment nor adequate income. When young people return to their rural homes, they are left worse off than before without knowledge about farming. Additionally, with a significant number of people moving in and out of communities, there is a weakened sense of solidarity amongst members of the community. The impact of climate change has also made farming more challenging due to higher erosion, less access to water, and irregular climate events and patterns that threaten the traditional agriculture cycles. While many of these communities work mostly with men, there are also opportunities to accompany women´s groups that are focusing on income generation projects through vegetable gardening, baking, and other small business ventures.
Rural food security or sexual violence prevention and awareness in Cochabamba:
This service opportunity location offers a variety of possibilities depending on the interest and skills of the Seed worker. While the living arrangements would be in a more urban setting there would be the possibility of working with food security in rural communities threatened by weakened economic opportunities and the impact of climate change on the agrarian lifestyle (see Llallagua description). In an urban setting, this location offers the opportunity to work with victims of and raising awareness about sexual violence. As more femicides are reported in Bolivia, awareness of sexual violence has been on the rise. Nonetheless, there is little understanding of how best to accompany victims and improve preventative measures for current and future generations.
Water advocacy and community accompaniment in Oruro:
This service opportunity works with water contamination and indigenous communities. Being one of the largest mining sectors of Bolivia, many communities in the area have struggled with water contamination. In the effort of raising awareness and government advocacy, there are challenges to providing proof that contamination is linked to mining as well as better understanding how water can be contaminated. Through both community accompaniment and water testing, communities attempt to raise awareness around this issue to better represent their needs and guide policy as to how to respond.