NEW Request for Peace Corps Volunteer 2008-2010. Please take a moment to download the application package in ZIP format

Projects:

Community and Business Development
Community Health Education
English Education
Environmental Awareness
PC Initiatives
For More Information

The Peace Corps is a Volunteer service organization operating directly under the authority of the president of the USA, designed to provide technical assistance to countries requesting services. The Peace Corps was established on March 1, 1961 by President John Kennedy. The Headquarters of the Peace Corps is in Washington DC. Peace Corps has been active in Armenia since 1992.

THE PEACE CORPS HAS THREE GOALS TO BE ACHIEVED BY AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS

1. To help the people of interested countries meet their needs for trained men and women;
2. To help promote a better understanding of the American people on the part of the peoples served;
3. Help promote a better understanding of the people served on the part of the American people.

Since its creation in 1961, over 163,000 Volunteers have worked in 135 countries. Nearly 7,000 Peace Corps Volunteers serve today in 78 countries.

WHO ARE THE VOLUNTEERS?

They apply from all over the US and the criteria on which they are selected include educational background, health, work-experience, and personal achievements. In general they represent the diversity of America by gender, race, national origin, ethnicity, age and religion. Of the 7000 volunteers around the world today half are women. The average age of volunteers is 29, but 14% are over 50. Volunteers are not allowed to promote any religion or political point of view.

Peace Corps Volunteers serve for 2 years. After ariving in Armenia, Volunteers attend three months of training comprised of Armenian language, history and culture. They also receive technical training directly related to their project work.

579 Volunteers have served in Armenia over the past fifteen years. There are usually 60-70 Volunteers serving in communities throughout the country.

COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

The Community and Business Development (CBD) Project was initiated in the spring of 1992 in response to the Armenian government's request for help with its transition to a free market economy.

The purpose of the Community and Business Development project is to support local organizations and businesses throughout Armenia through capacity building to enhance standard of living of their community members.

PROJECT GOALS:

• Informal community groups, Community-based organizations and NGOs will become more sustainable and serve their communities more effectively through strategic planning and the use of participatory management methods.
• Enable entrepreneurs and small businesses to begin, develop and grow their businesses through improved marketing, customer service, decision making, critical thinking, financial management and other international business principles.
• Students of local educational institutions, business training centers along with other community members, will gain information technology and entrepreneurial skills, as well as knowledge about the free market, by learning the principles and practices of Western businesses.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES:

CBD volunteers are assigned to work in the administrative regions throughout Armenia, where they work with community partners to:

• Assist with training classes on business related fields.
• Support in organizational development and staff training.
• Assist in establishing training programs for unemployed people, help with business consultations and program development.
• Develop the network with relevant international organizations.
• Support to develop new services for the community members.
• Provide consultancy to local businesses.
• Support local businesses in Business plan writing, networking, marketing.
• Support NGO members in personal and professional growth to increase quality and effectiveness of the NGOs' services.
• Conducting community needs assessment and implementing community development projects

Some form of community contribution is always sought for placement of a Volunteer - e.g., office space and/or other supportive accommodations.

Community Health Education Project

The Community Health Education Project is being initiated in 2000, in cooperation with with the Ministry of Health and both international and local development organizations.

The purpose of the CHE Project is to increase the awareness of public health issues and the practice of preventive health measures at the community level throughout Armenia.

PROJECT GOALS:

• To increase understanding and knowledge of local health priorities; to establish community based monitoring groups for these health priorities or, alternatively, support and strengthen such groups as are already established.
• To establish sustainable public health education programs focussing on preventive health care practices and healthy lifestyle choices, and to support and strengthen such programs already established.
• To strengthen the organizational and capacity building skills of existing public health programs to render such programs self sustainable, growth oriented, and responsive to the changing needs of the community.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES:

• CHE Volunteers are assigned to several administrative regions in Armenia, where they work with community partners to initiate and facilitate one or more of the following activities:
• Undertake knowledge, attitude & practice surveys in regional communities;
• Assist local health entities in identifying community health needs;
• Develop and apply culturally appropriate and age-relevant health education materials;
• Teach health courses, assist Volunteer English teachers to integrate health topics into regular curriculum;
• Establish community health resource centers;
• Conduct organization capacity-building seminars;
• Design and implement health campaigns;
• Collaborate with other Volunteers in a variety of community development projects.

Some form of community contribution is always sought for placement of a Volunteer -- e.g., office space in a municipal building or clinic and other in-kind support.

ENGLISH EDUCATION PROJECT

The Peace Corps Education Project in Armenia has been developed in response to needs identified by teachers, school directors, Armenian educators, and officials with the Ministry of Education and Science.

The purpose of the English Education project I is to assist the Republic of Armenia in enhancing its participation in the international community by increasing the quality of English programs and providing other educational opportunities throughout Armenia.

PROJECT GOALS:

• Learners of English throughout Armenia, both youth and adults, will develop and improve their English language communication skills.
• English teachers throughout Armenia will improve English communication skills, teaching practices, and methodologies through skills transfer with PCVs.
• Armenian English teachers will enhance existing English language curricula through PCV/Counterpart production and/or acquisition of educational materials for schools and other organizations.

Educational institutions and organizations throughout Armenia will strengthen existing and establish new relationships with local community organizations, civic and business leaders, other educational institutions, and parents.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES:

English Education Volunteers are assigned to work in secondary schools, colleges, pre-service and in-service teacher training institutes in different regions throughout Armenia, where they will work with community partners to initiate some of the following activities:

• Team-teach in classrooms, using collaborative strategies.
• Organize English language clubs.
• Assist community's English Teachers' needs.
• Host a local or regional gathering of English teachers to discuss methodology issues.
• Provide support for teachers and students to use the Internet for language learning and teaching.
• Develop a library or resource center for training materials, articles, professional development information.
• Develop, design, and manage community-based projects.
• Identify and assist applicants for various exchange programs.
• Identify and establish network with supporting agencies to address a variety of social issues (i.e. drug abuse, AIDS, teenage pregnancy, trafficking, etc.)

Some form of community support is always necessary for placement of volunteer, such as existing English language program in the given institution, local counterpart, etc.

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PROJECT

The Peace Corps Environmental Education Project in Armenia has been developed in response to needs identified by individual Armenians, NGOs and the Ministry of Nature Protection. The first group of Environmental Education Volunteers arrived to Armenia in 2003.

The purpose of the Environmental Education project is to assist the communities to enhance the quality of their lives by increasing their capacity to recognize, appreciate and address environmental issues.

PROJECT GOALS:

• Strengthen, develop, and establish sustainable environmental education programs at educational institutions.
• Increase the capacity of indigenous environmental NGOs to address local and national environmental issues
• Increased community participation in projects that raise environmental awareness and protect the local environment.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES:

Environmental Education Volunteers will be assigned to work in secondary schools and NGOs.

• Organize and conduct environmental classes, trainings for sharing new teaching methods and techniques with the local teachers, organize extra-curricular eco-clubs at schools;
• Develop and adapt environmental education resources;
• Facilitate collaboration among environmental institutions and organizations;
• Establish and strengthen community watch-groups to monitor environmental quality (e.g. bird population, garbage collection, visibility, etc.) in the communities;
• Advice local businesses to improve their environmental practices and increase their contributions to environmental projects;
• Support community organizations in organizing "Eco Adventure" summer environmental awareness camps.

PEACE CORPS INITIATIVES

The Peace Corps has established five initiative areas including Information Technologies, Gender and Development, Village outreach, Youth Development and Environmental Education.

• Information Technologies: Integrating computer and internet training and facilitating with the development of resources to assist Armenian communities in gaining access to and making effective use of information technologies;
• Gender and Deveopment: Enhancing effectiveness of community development by increasing the understanding of gender roles and encouraging the active participation of both men and women in their communities;
• Village outreach: Emphasizing assistance for those most in need; placing more Volunteers in villages and encouraging those assigned to towns and cities to serve area villages;
• Youth Development: Reaching out to empower Armenian girls and boys through education, community involvement, and exposure to new ideas and approaches for proactively managing their of quality of life;
• Environmental education: building capacity for environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs); working with conservation or reservation areas to develop strategies to minimize the impact of human traffic, assist with wildlife management through data collection, monitoring; merging ecological concerns with tourism to develop low impact tourism programs and incorporating Environmental education topics into the English and Health curriculum and included in regular teaching assignments;
• Organizational Bridge Initiative: This new initiative is aimed at increasing the reach of international and national organizations by providing more detailed and up-to-date information to regional and local organizations about grant, training, and conference announcements.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON PEACE CORPS ACTIVITIES PLEASE CONTACT

Peace Corps - Armenia

Peace Corps Armenia
33 Charents Street, Yerevan 0025
Republic of Armenia

Phone (374-10) 52-44-50; 55-13-65; 56-25-65
International Fax: (374-1) 55-79-91
E-mail: pcarmenia@am.peacecorps.gov

We invite you to explore our US web site for more information on US PEACE CORPS: