Skilled Professional Volunteers

ORGANISATION‘S MISSION:

VIN aims to contribute to the women empowerment and improve the quality of women’s lives through education on rights and life-skills, organisation of local support groups, and support of women entrepreneurship, helping them build their own small businesses through their artistry.

PROJECT NEED:

In 2007 VIN has developed a Women Empowerment program, which now encompasses women in Jitpurphedi, Kavresthali, Okharpauwa, Okhaldhunga communities. Under Women Empowerment entrepreneurship development program, we are currently planning to concentrate our work in Jitpurphedi community, which is comprised of 8000 people (among them – 4200 women), and is located in the north part of Kathmandu. As a large part of women in the community mainly depend on traditional agricultural activities, we are looking for a skilled professional volunteer who could help us develop women’s skills, motivate women to try out new non-agriculture income generation activities in order to provide them with regular employment and help upgrade their living standards, encourage women entrepreneurship by providing specialised training, actively identify new fields of economic activities, and, as needed, provide support to currently ongoing women businesses. The Volunteer will also be invited to contribute to the field research and community needs’ assessment, to design and deliver vocational and other trainings on business plan preparation, product development, packaging and marketing, and etc, as well as carry out monitoring, evaluation and reporting for the program. This is a great opportunity for those Entrepreneurship Development professionals who look to gain experience in community needs-based organisation and delivery of small business development services and work in an NGO sector in developing countries.

ASSIGNMENT / TASKS:

The Volunteer will be working together with VIN’s Women Empowerment program coordinator to develop non-agricultural entrepreneurship in the community of Jitpurphedi. To this end, the volunteer will carry out the following activities:

General duties:

• To build capacities of rural women groups to provide services required by the communities;
• To plan, mobilise and organise trainings for rural women groups ‘

1) 2019- Bag Making, Jewellery, Tailoring, Liquid soap making and doll Making

2)2020- Handicrafts and Tailoring

• To demonstrate and apply knowledge and different techniques adapted to the needs and existing capacities in targeted communities;
• To follow up and supervise rural women groups’ activities, progress and final products;
• To collaborate with other community volunteers in the field for better coordination of interventions and project sustainability;
• To report on work achievements and difficulties encountered.

SPECIFIC TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

A. Carry out training, mobilizing, organizing activities

• Identify existing local capacities in the villages (handicrafts groups) and prepare technical support and material for local beneficiaries;
• Organize and facilitate training sessions with the communities in coordination with local stakeholders;
• Deliver specific trainings on handicraft skills corresponding to the community needs, e.g. sewing, knitting, handicrafts, jewellery and bag making, weaving, tailoring, toy or doll making, etc.;
• Train women how to market final goods to be acceptable by consumer standards and how to find local markets;
• Support fundraising activities to finance costs of material and other technical equipment, if needed;

B. Supervise and closely follow up on field activities implementation: ·

• Ensure that new knowledge and skills are implemented and carried on by the beneficiaries in a sustainable, longer-term mindset;
• Closely follow up project beneficiaries and provide any necessary advice;
• Check lessons learnt and propose possible improvement solutions of the implementation to the Program Manager;
• Write a summary report of activities;

C. Demonstrate personal commitment in promoting Gender Equality and the related minimum standards.

DURATION OF PLACEMENT LOCATION:

Ideally, we are looking for a volunteer who could join us for 4-5 months. Shorter placement is also negotiable, depending on individual case. Starting date is foreseen for September 2019, and may be negotiated depending on the availability of the volunteer. Volunteer will be working 5 days per week, 11:00 – 16:00hr (with 1hr lunch break). All VIN staff enjoy 26 days of holidays, including festivals, in a calendar year.

Volunteer will spend most of his/her time in Women Co-operative office in Jitpurphedi, with occasional work at VIN head office in Kathmandu.

WHAT WE HAVE:

Existing VIN Strategic Plan, Women Empowerment 5-year work plan, annual plan and annual reports, training manual on entrepreneurship, as well as some hand-over notes and documents developed by previous VIN volunteers (e.g. booklet on Women Empowerment) are available in English and will be provided. Local volunteers will be made available for translation and interpretation services as needed. Organization will provide a facilitated working space. Stationeries, printing facilities will be provided by VIN. The volunteer is encouraged to bring his/her own laptop. Upon arrival, VIN will organise general orientation on project, health and safety, travel guidelines, local culture, and etc. Work related transportation between office in Jitpurphedi and VIN head office in Kathmandu by public transport will be provided.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND COMPETENCES:

• Graduation from social sciences, education, business administration, economist, fine arts or technical educational institutions or other similar backgrounds (textile and fashion);
• Practical experience on the related matters (one or several of the above) is mandatory;
• Experience in international projects in entrepreneurship in rural development contexts is an advantage;
• Practical training in non-profit organizations, government institutions or private companies dealing with international development in developing countries is an advantage;
• Good communication and facilitation skills with people from rural developing areas;
• Ability to travel frequently and walk to the various field locations on bad-kept village roads;
• Personal commitment to promoting gender equality; awareness and sensitivity of gender issues;
• Adaptability, flexibility to difficult contexts;
• Self-motivated, with initiative and entrepreneurship mind-set;
• Autonomy and independent capacity of structuring activities;
• Professionalism and accuracy;
• Ability to network based on the needs of the moment;
• Sound verbal and written communication in English;
• Willingness to learn;
• Volunteering mindset.

SELECTION PROCESS:

Selection will take place in 2 stages:

•  Candidates will be contacted by VIN to arrange for a Skype interview. Skype interviews will take place in July 2019.
• Expected date of decision on final outcome by 15 August 2019. Selected volunteer will be informed by e-mail / telephone.

CONTACTS:

Contact Om Kumari Shrestha to see how your unique skills can make a big impact!

Cell/What’s App No: +977 984 150 5614

Office hours: +977 014 362 560.

Email: we@volunteringnepal.org

PROGRAM COSTS:

50% of program fee waived for skilled volunteers!

You may check program fees at: https://www.volunteersinitiativenepal.org/program-fees/

ORGANISATION‘S MISSION:

VIN aims to contribute to economic freedom of women through establishment and development of micro-credit system in the communities that we work with.

PROJECT NEED:

In 2010 VIN has established a first Micro-Credit cooperative in Jitpurphedi community. Currently there plans to expand the program to Okhaldhunga area. However, cooperative system faces challenges related to accounting, data and loan management, as well as policy for cooperative development in the future.

To this end, we are looking for a skilled professional volunteer who could help us to improve accounting in local co-operatives run under Women Empowerment Micro-Credit Program; assist the Management Committee in the development and implementation of the agriculture co-operative policy; enable staff to use specialty software for the running of the co-operative -Easy Software(installed by Easy software pvt. Ltd.; www. easysoftware.com.np) ; introduce loan-handling and management techniques; and improve overall capacities of the co-operative Management Committee for holistic co-operative development. The Volunteer will also be invited to contribute to the development of management, fund mobilsation, accounting and record-keeping capacities of co-operative staff and the Management Committee, through a number of initiatives synthesizing local and international knowledge, bringing in good experiences and practices.

We hope that with the improved running of the co-operative system, there will be an increased number of women participating in the co-operatives; mobilization of funds among members for various income generation activities will improve, and, gradually, the Women’s Co-operative will gain more trust among women for economic sustainability.

This is a great opportunity for those Micro-Credit and finance professionals who look to gain experience in community needs-based organisation and delivery of micro-crediting services and work in an NGO sector in developing countries.

ASSIGNMENT / TASKS:

The Volunteer will be working together with VIN’s Women Empowerment program coordinator to develop effective management of micro-credit system implemented by local level cooperatives. He/she will play an important role in the development of the micro-credit co-operative system. The primary role of the volunteer will be to support handling co-operative’s software, up-dating of data, training and guiding of the Management Committee in the running of the co-operative system.

To this end, the volunteer will carry out the following activities:

1. Train Management Committee on micro-finance policy, role and responsibilities of cooperative members, and cooperative dimensions;

2. Train Loan Sub-committee on loan refunding system;

3. Train Accounting Committee on internal and external accounting system of co-operative;

4. Train staff on reporting on the status of accounts payable and receivable;

5. Train staff on updating internal accounting databases and spreadsheets;

6. Provide training on advanced use of Excel (using financial formulas and creating spreadsheets) to staffs;

7. Contribute input to summary reports; 8. Create communication mechanism (eg. Text message, reminders, follow up call, social medias) among cooperative members;

DURATION OF PLACEMENT LOCATION:

Ideally, we are looking for a volunteer who could join us for 4-5 months. Shorter placement is also negotiable, depending on individual case. Starting date is foreseen for September 2019, and may be negotiated depending on the availability of the volunteer.

Volunteer will be working 5 days per week, 11:00 – 16:00hr (with 1hr lunch break).

All VIN staff enjoy 26 days of holidays, including festivals, in a calendar year.

Volunteer will spend most of his/her time in Women Co-operative office in Jitpurphedi, with occasional work at VIN head office in Kathmandu.

WHAT WE HAVE:

Existing Jitpurphedi Women‘s Agriculture Cooperative Limited Establishment Manual and Cooperative short analysis done in 2019, as well as annual reports of Women Empowerment Programme covering Micro-Credit cooperative, are available in English, and will be provided.

Local volunteers will be made available for translation and interpretation services as needed.

Organization will provide a facilitated working space. Stationeries, printing facilities will be provided by VIN.

The volunteer is encouraged to bring his/her own laptop.

Upon arrival, VIN will organise general orientation on project, health and safety, travel guidelines, local culture, and etc. Work related transportation between VIN head office and Women Co-operative in Jitpurphedi by public transport will be provided.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND COMPETENCES:

Volunteers must have know-how on related fields and at least bachelor in management, business study, business administration, accounting, etc. Master‘s degree is an advantage. He/she must have the following skills, competences and experience:

• Good knowledge of micro-credit systems. Experience with micro-crediting in developing countries is an advantage;
• Good banking and financial knowledge;
• Hands on experience with accounting software (knowledge of Easy Software is advantageous);
• Good IT skills and great knowledge of Excel;
• Good organizational and time management skills;
• Experience of work in I/NGO would be advantageous.
• Sound verbal and written communication in English
• Strong motivation and self-initiative
• Team-worker, with good coordination skills
• Willingness to learn
• Volunteering mindset

SELECTION PROCESS:

Selection will take place in 2 stages:

•  Candidates will be contacted by VIN to arrange for a Skype interview. Skype interviews will take place in July 2019.
• Expected date of decision on final outcome by 15 August 2019. Selected volunteer will be informed by e-mail / telephone.

CONTACTS:

Contact Om Kumari Shrestha to see how your unique skills can make a big impact!

Cell/What’s App No: +977 984 150 5614

Office hours: +977 014 362 560.

Email: we@volunteringnepal.org

PROGRAM COSTS:

50% of program fee waived for skilled volunteers!

You may check program fees at: https://www.volunteersinitiativenepal.org/program-fees/

ORGANISATION‘S MISSION:

VIN aims to contribute to the women empowerment and improve the quality of women’s lives through education on rights and life-skills, organisation of local support groups, and support of women entrepreneurship, helping them build their own small businesses through agriculture.

PROJECT NEED:

In 2007 VIN has developed a Women Empowerment program, which now encompasses women in Jitpurphedi, Kavresthali, Okharpauwa, Okhaldhunga communities. Under Women Empowerment Agricultural entrepreneurship development initiative, we are currently planning to concentrate our work in Jitpurphedi and Kavresthali communities, which are comprised of 8000 people in Jitpurphedi and 5200 people in Kavresthali (among them – 4200 women in Jitpurphedi and 2700 women in Kavresthli). As a large part of women in these communities mainly depend on traditional agricultural activities, we are looking for a skilled professional volunteer who could help us develop women’s skills, motivate women to try out new and (or) develop existing agricultural activities in order to provide them with regular employment and help upgrade their living standards.

The Volunteer will also be invited to contribute to the agriculture and rural development by designing and organising trainings and providing technical support to local farmers. He/she will study the work of previous volunteers and the past projects in the same field, and assist staff in identification of new fields of intervention.

This is a great opportunity for those professionals who look to gain experience in community needs-based organisation and delivery of agriculture and rural development services and work in an NGO sector in developing countries.

ASSIGNMENT / TASKS:

Agriculture and Rural Development Volunteer will work together with VIN’s Women Empowerment program coordinator. He/she will contribute to the development of modern agriculture, food production, farming and marketing system, as well as promotion of related modern technologies in Jitpurphedi and Kavresthali communities. The Volunteer will play an important role in strengthening agricultural entrepreneurship and production and marketing of quality foods and other agro-products in the area.

To this end, the volunteer will carry out the following activities:

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT:

• To build capacities of agricultural cooperatives to provide timely, efficient and effective services needed by the community;
• To mobilise participants, organise, conduct or facilitate trainings on agriculture, food processing and (or) livestock farming for rural women groups in targeted communities;
• To demonstrate and apply sustainable agriculture, food processing and (or) livestock farming (including, livestock breeding) knowledge and techniques in targeted communities;
• To follow-up and supervise training participants and other beneficiaries’ agricultural activities, food production and (or) small livestock breeding activities;
• To collaborate with other community volunteers active in the field for better coordination and project sustainability;
• To report on achievements and difficulties encountered, and active propose constructive solutions.

SPECIFIC TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES

A. Carry out mobilising, organising, training and other related activities:

• Identify existing local capacities in the villages and prepare technical support and material for local beneficiaries;
• Organize and facilitate training sessions with the communities in coordination with local stakeholders;
• Deliver specific workshops on sustainable agriculture, livestock farming and (or) food production corresponding to the community needs, e.g.: pickling mushrooms, vegetables and fruit, fermenting techniques; cheese-making, processing, storage and marketing of vegetables, organic juice making, making jams, baking, growing mushrooms, breeding and keeping goats, and etc.;
• Train women how to market processed foods to be acceptable by consumer standards and how to find local markets;
• Where needed, organise and run fundraising activities to finance costs of technical equipment and materials.

B. Supervise and closely follow up on field activities implementation:

• Ensure that sustainable agriculture, food processing and (or) livestock farming implementation strategies are applied by beneficiary households in targeted communities;
• Closely follow up on project beneficiaries and provide technical advice as needed;
• Check lessons learnt and propose possible implementation improvement solutions to the Program Manager;
• Write summary reports on activities.

C. Demonstrate personal commitment in promoting Gender Equality and the related minimum standards

DURATION OF PLACEMENT LOCATION:

Ideally, we are looking for a volunteer who could join us for 4-5 months. Shorter placement is also negotiable, depending on individual case. Starting date is foreseen for September 2019, and may be negotiated depending on the availability of the volunteer.

Volunteer will be working 5 days per week, 11:00 – 16:00hr (with 1hr lunch break). All VIN staff enjoy 26 days of holidays, including festivals, in a calendar year.

Volunteer will divide most of his/her work time between Jitpurphedi and Kavresthali communities, with occasional visits to VIN head office in Kathmandu, with frequent travel between project areas.

WHAT WE HAVE:

Existing VIN Strategic Plan, Women Empowerment 5-year work plan, annual plan and annual reports, training manual on entrepreneurship, as well as some hand-over notes and documents developed by previous VIN volunteers (e.g. booklet on Women Empowerment) are available in English and will be provided.

Local volunteers will be made available for translation and interpretation services as needed. Organization will provide a facilitated working space. Stationeries, printing facilities will be provided by VIN.

The volunteer is encouraged to bring his/her own laptop.

Upon arrival, VIN will organise general orientation on project, health and safety, travel guidelines, local culture, and etc.

Work related transportation between work places in Jitpurphedi, Kavresthali and VIN head office in Kathmandu by public transport will be provided.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND COMPETENCES:

• Bachelor or Master, graduated from any agriculture-related institution;
• At least 2 years of practical experience in sustainable agriculture, food processing and (or) livestock farming is compulsory, and longer experience is advantageous;
• Experience in multiple fields (from the ones listed above) is advantageous;
• Experience in international technical assistance projects in rural development and agriculture is an advantage;
• Practical work experience in non-profit organizations, government institutions or private companies dealing with international development and investment projects in developing countries is an advantage;
• Good communication and facilitation skills with people from rural developing areas;
• Ability to travel frequently and walk to various field locations;
• Personal commitment in promoting gender equality; awareness and sensitivity of gender issues;
• Adaptability, flexibility to difficult context;
• Self-motivated, with initiative and entrepreneurship mind-set;
• Autonomy and independent capacity of structuring activities;
• Professionalism and accuracy;
• Ability to network based on the needs of the moment.
• Experience of work in I/NGO would be advantageous.
• Sound verbal and written communication in English
• Good team-work and coordination skills;
• Willingness to learn;
• Volunteering mindset

SELECTION PROCESS:

Selection will take place in 2 stages:

• Candidates will be contacted by VIN to arrange for a Skype interview. Skype interviews will take place in July 2019.
• Expected date of decision on final outcome by 15 August 2019. Selected volunteer will be informed by e-mail / telephone.

CONTACTS:

Contact Om Kumari Shrestha to see how your unique skills can make a big impact!

Cell/What’s App No: +977 984 150 5614

Office hours: +977 014 362 560.

Email: we@volunteringnepal.org

PROGRAM COSTS:

50% of program fee waived for skilled volunteers!

You may check program fees at: https://www.volunteersinitiativenepal.org/program-fees/