Community Development Worker
Join us and use your professional skills and experience in community development, social work, children’s work or informal adult education to contribute to the work of our local partners.
Key Features
Urban, Social Issues, Buddhists, Poor, Children and Youth
Length
1 to 3 years, More than 3 years
Job Description
Our team live and work among the peri-urban poor. We use our professional skills to be a blessing in the communities where we serve. We are seconded to an experienced Christian organization who provide us with a practical and valuable way of doing this.
We are looking for new team members to join both our community development and education work.
The people we work with originally come from many different ethnic groups but now live in densely populated communities across a large town. There is huge unemployment and opportunities for work for many parents and their children run shops and services. Whole families live in a yurt heated by coal or dung with a pit toilet. The temperatures drop very low and the reception to the gospel is minimal. The urban poor are resourceful and resilient, but need support and encouragement to make the changes that will benefit their families and communities.
Join us as we pray and work for long-term, holistic transformation in the communities where we are serving.
To learn more about our vision, mission, and values, visit omf.org/skylands.
Responsibilities
As a community development worker you will work with local colleagues to plan and implement programs in one particular peri-urban poor community. You will be accountable to our local partner charity board and staff management. This is a new program in the project and there is a lot of potential to develop new and creative ideas.
Your role will include:
• Building relationships with the local community and developing an informed understanding of their needs and priorities
• Serving children with disabilities
• Using your professional skills to design effective and empowering programs
• Running these programs in the community with a team of local colleagues
• Contributing to other programs as needed
• Evaluation, monitoring and reporting to the local charity leadership team
Qualifications
Ideally a degree in community development, social work, counselling, education, or a related field will enable you to get a visa. Essential to have some experience or exposure to working with poor and marginalized groups within your own or another culture.
You need to be proactive and self-starting, able to motivate and inspire others, and with great communication skills. You will need to thoroughly learn the local language. We will empower you with one year dedicated to full-time language study before continuing language development on a part-time basis.
Living Situations
The growing team will live near our focus ministry area and to each other. We have a variety of living arrangements depending on our individual circumstances, and new team members will be able to choose whether an apartment or small house. Moving directly into a photogenic Mongolian yurt is not advised on arrival unless you have experience in doing so. Living in a large town comes with benefits such as good quality facilities, but many challenges too. We look forward to telling you a bit more about what life here is like in due course!
Enquire
For more information or to schedule a video call about this role, please fill in the form and we will get in touch.