Rural Education and Youth Rights Internship

DURATION: 6 months, with extension possible (preference for 1 year commitment)

LOCATION: educate. Youth Center, Trinidad, Santa Bárbara, Honduras

APPLY:

To apply for the Rural Education and Youth Rights Internship, please email the following materials to educate.ngo@gmail.com

1. Resume
2. Cover Letter explaining your interest in the internship, your motivation, and what you hope to learn

ABOUT EDUCATE.

educate. is a grassroots non-profit organisation that works to empower children and young people in Honduras through supporting community-driven initiatives focused on education.

Honduras has the highest rate of economic inequality in Latin America, and over 80% of the rural population live in poverty. Only 50% of students carry on their education past 6th grade, and the prospect of university is off the cards for most of the country's youth. Without opportunities to study, young people are disproportionately affected by the country's poverty, violence and inequality.

educate. provides opportunities for ambitious, high-potential youth from low-income backgrounds to pursue secondary and tertiary education, and we work to support locally led spaces of community engagement. In the rural coffee-growing department of Trinidad, Santa Barbara we run a Youth Center and Public Library, a high school and university scholarship programme, and ongoing leadership and youth empowerment programmes on themes such as arts, computer literacy, environmental protection, gender and sexual health and rights, and communication and storytelling, as well as peer-to-peer mentorship and tutoring.

In a country deeply affected by political and social crises, we believe in the power of young people to drive long-lasting change in their communities.

ABOUT THE INTERNSHIP:

The Rural Education and Youth Rights Internship is a hands-on leadership experience for early-career professionals who are passionate about education, social justice and rural development. Interns live in the community where we are based and work as an integral part of our team. You’ll be involved in running programmes with and for our community of local youth, supporting with fundraising and project management, carrying out impact assessments, and seeing the direct impacts of your work throughout your time with us. We can also provide university credit if required.

Main activities will include:

• Teaching and organizing activities and trainings with children and youth at the educate. Youth Center. This includes our fixed youth programmes in the arts, sports, STEM and journalism, as well as workshops on leadership skills, gender equity, and sexual health education.
• Working with our network of primary schools in the surrounding villages to lead activities in the educate.'s library network alongside teachers and community library leaders.
• Provide individualized student support, including tutoring, mentorship, social-emotional guidance, and accompaniment activities such as family visits.
• Supporting impact measurement processes by visiting communities to carry out surveys and interviews with participants such as students and families at our network of libraries.
• Help write fundraising applications and grants for educate.’s scholarship programme, Youth Center programmes and library initiatives (primarily in English but possibly in Spanish as well) and developing narrative reports about projects happening in Honduras to share with donors.
• Support with the organization and carrying out of community events such as literacy days, sports competitions, and community mural activities.
• Support with the communication of educate.’s work through developing articles, blog posts, video and other creative media.

YOUR PROFILE:

We seek interns who are curious, adaptable and eager to learn and engage actively in both the hands-on work (teaching, running activities with youth, working in rural communities) as well as the more “behind the scenes” activities (project management, grant writing etc.) that goes into running impactful programmes on the ground in the contexts where we work.

You’d be perfect if you:

• Speak Spanish (at least B1 level)
• Have a strong interest in international development, education and youth empowerment.
• Enjoy mentoring young adults and building meaningful relationships.
• Have excellent interpersonal skills and a strong sense of integrity and personal ethics.
• Have a proactive, can-do attitude, are open to learning from others, and enjoy working as part of a young, dynamic team.
• Thrive in a dynamic environment where electricity, Wi-Fi, and rural living require flexibility and creativity.
• Preferred: Have some experience working with NGOs, e.g., in project management, youth programmes, advocacy, fundraising etc.

We require volunteers to provide proof of travel and medical insurance (volunteers must arrange this themselves), and a criminal record check. All volunteers must also be willing to sign and abide by our Code of Conduct and Child Safeguarding Policy.

WHAT DO YOU GET OUT OF IT

We see our interns as an integral part of our team, and we believe that this work should be as much about personal learning and development as it is about participating in and supporting educate.'s work. A long-term placement (6 months or more) is an opportunity to develop your skillset, meaningfully contribute to a community, learn about a new culture, and gain international experience. We will ensure you receive training and ongoing support throughout your time with us as part of our team, so that you have the best experience possible.

We cover room and board and provide a monthly stipend, as well as any work-related travel costs (e.g. a mototaxi to a nearby village to visit a library project), so you have no core expenses while you are here.

OUR COMMUNITY

The town where we are based is called Trinidad, it’s the center of a municipality of the same name, in the department of Santa Bárbara. It’s a beautiful, mountainous area, with a local economy mostly based on agriculture (primarily corn, beans and coffee) and shoemaking. There’s great coffee, lots of good street food, and it’s a very artistic, cultural area with active theatre, painting and dance groups, as well as local sports teams, so there is plenty to get involved in!

You will be based at the educate. Youth Center where we run activities with children and youth from across the municipality. We also have a network of schools where we have supported libraries in the surrounding villages, so some days will involve taking a bus or 'moto taxi' to visit these schools as well. You'll have a weekly routine, but every day is different, depending on the activities taking place. Some days will be very hands-on leading trainings and workshops with groups of students, and other days will be quieter and might involve tutoring, helping out in the library, some grant writing work on your laptop, or working on a blog post for the website.

Trinidad is also well connected to the beautiful city of Santa Barbara (40 mins by bus), the Lake Yojoa region (1.5 hours by bus, and a great place for hiking and canoeing!), and the bustling industrial capital of San Pedro Sula (1.5 hours by bus).

More information about our organization can be found at www.educate-ngo.com.