Youth Programs
Infant and Small Child Health Facilitator
Host Organization: Caritas - Huancayo
Country: Peru
Position Description:
- Conduct a needs assessment of beneficiary families
- Develop capacity building workshops in health, nutrition, child development and agriculture
- Facilitate capacity building workshops for families
- Monitor and evaluate capacity building workshops in order to modify the program
Qualifications:
- Background in early childhood development
- Ability to interpret information relevant to infant development
- Strong communication and networking skills
- Comfort interacting with children and families from diverse backgrounds
- Survey and research skills
- Strong oral and written Spanish skills
- Able to work in a demanding physical environment (high altitude)
Host Organization Details: Caritas’ Infant Stimulation project involves developing an infant stimulation program that is specific to the needs of isolated, rural communities in the Andean province of Junín. The projects goals include: to share knowledge from the practice of infant stimulation with partners in Peru; to collaborate with Peruvians who work in the field of infant stimulation and family education to clearly identify the primary developmental difficulties that need to be addressed; to collaborate with Peruvian early development workers to develop a program that is directed toward giving parents the knowledge and skills they need to foster optimal development in their children; to assess the program by working with a sample of families in the region; and to develop materials that can be used to disseminate the knowledge and the practice of the program that is jointly developed.
The beneficiaries of the project include infants, their parents and families in rural Andean communities who are isolated from support for fostering development in their infants, some of who are at-risk for developmental delay. This project is conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Health and local health centers.