Winter Internship Program
The Haitian American Caucus (HAC) is announcing its 2012-2013 Winter Internship Program in Croix des Bouquets, Haiti.
The Haitian American Caucus’ mission is to create a platform by which communities of individuals are empowered to create their own sustainable solutions for development, thereby enabling them to rise out of poverty and develop their communities. We build lasting partnerships with supporting individuals and organizations focused on empowering the individual in order to empower the community. The Haitian American Caucus in Haiti offers community based programs in Primary Education, Woman's Empowerment, Agriculture, Literacy, Micro Finance, and After School Education. Our community development programs seek to provide the tools, skills, and venue for individuals to take control of their destiny. We believe that by educationally, economically, and socially, empowering women, children, and families we can create strength that will build a better Haiti.
HAC-Haiti is seeking individuals to participate in intensive, hands-on internships in their field of interest. Interns will benefit from the mentorship of working directly with an experienced community development program manager and local Haitian Staff. Weekly seminars with an international group of peers and the internship coordinator will provide the forum for processing experiences, creating innovative program solutions, and hearing guest lecturers. HAC’s internship program offers the individual flexibility so that students can pursue their specific interests within the project and have the opportunity to take the lead in developing new projects. Interns will receive a unique experience as they work alongside a predominately Haitian staff who share a united vision of integrating educational, community, and economic development to lift families out of extreme poverty.
Requirements:
- Ability to live in a communal setting in a developing nation
- Flexibility with time and task requirements
- Ability to work and communicate in a resource scarce environment
- Ability to work independently and as part of multicultural team
- Committed to helping empower the local Haitian Community rise out of extreme poverty
Accommodations: Interns live in a shared space on the second floor of our compound. 3 meals a day, purified drinking water, and Internet access is available for all interns. Free Haitian Creole lessons will also be provided.
Interns are expected to pay an accommodation fee for their housing, meals, and transportation in Haiti. The accommodation fee is determined based on the length of the internship. They are also responsible for airfare and any personal expenses throughout the program, including optional cultural excursions.
We welcome people from all religious backgrounds, races, ages, genders and sexual orientations to apply before November 5th, 2012.
Primary Education
HAC’s Primary Education Intern will have the exciting and challenging focus of improving education for primary school students at Ecole Shalom, and in the surrounding community. Interns will gain an understanding of the educational system in Haiti, including the challenges facing current educators, parents, and children. They will participate in classroom observations, conversations with teachers and other professionals in the field, as well as work with students.
Interns will have the opportunity to directly impact community children through further developing an after-school program, working with our community teachers union, and preparing for our Teachers Summer Institute (TSI) held in July 2013. Based upon each intern’s personal goals, past experiences, and assessments, they will have the opportunity to implement changes and introduce new sub-projects. This will all be accomplished through the direct guidance of the project manager and internship coordinator.
Marketing and Communications Internship
HAC’s Communications and Reporting Intern will have the exciting and challenging focus of telling the story of the people of Croix des Bouquets and how HAC is working alongside them for the development of the economy, education, and community. Interns will employ various mediums as they experience firsthand the important role communications plays within development work.
Interns will gain a better understanding of Haiti’s culture, beauty, and challenges, as they create content to expand HAC’s online presence and donor base. Based upon each intern’s personal goals, past experiences, and assessments, they will have the opportunity to implement changes and introduce new sub-projects. This will all be accomplished through the direct guidance of the project manager and internship coordinator.
MicroBusiness Internship
HAC’s MicroBusiness Intern will have the exciting and challenging focus of further developing and expanding our current Microloan Project. Interns will gain a first-hand understanding of the difficulties facing microbusiness entrepreneurs in an underdeveloped economy with little credit opportunities. They will also see the incredible impact access to small loans has on business owners, their families and the surrounding community.
Working alongside our agents, interns will learn HAC’s process for accepting and evaluating business plans, dispersing loans, collecting payments, micro savings, and providing educational support. Interns will work directly with local entrepreneurs to learn their specific challenges. They will then work with these same entrepreneurs to teach best practices designed to meet their needs. Interns will also participate in organizing and leading community-wide seminars.
Interns will assess the Microloan Project as a whole through meetings with current and prospective borrowers, meetings with HAC staff, and meetings with professionals within the field in Haiti. Based upon each intern’s personal goals, past experiences, and assessments, they will have the opportunity to implement changes and introduce new sub-projects. This will all be accomplished through the direct guidance of the project manager and internship coordinator.
Agricultural Internship
HAC-Haiti is in the process of hosting a tree nursery and community garden on our compound to provide subsidized plants that will give locals a competitive edge on entering into the global food market. Many of the food purchased within Haiti has been imported from neighboring countries and comes at a higher price to the consumer then if the product was grown locally. HAC-Haiti strongly believes in the skills and efforts of our local small land owning farmers and seeks to continue to provide them with support and skills training that will help them expand their practices and sell their goods to a larger community. In addition to our agricultural skills program we also run an animal husbandry program. Students skilled in organic farming, agricultural training, and animal husbandry are encouraged to apply. Interns will have to opportunity to develop sustainable agricultural training programs, work within existing programs and work directly with local farmers to learn their specific challenges and needs. They will have the opportunity to gain experience in program management, skills training, monitoring and evaluation, and gain hands on agricultural experience in a developing country.
Journalism Internship
Journalism students are invited to apply to HAC-Haiti’s summer journalism internship program. This unique opportunity allows students to explore a topic of their choice, reporting on current development efforts in Haiti and exploring issues and challenges the country faces. They will develop content and stories for our monthly newsletter, website, and outreach emails to our volunteers and donor base. Journalism interns will be supplied with a translator, and transportation into the community to conduct interviews and gather data. They will gain hands on experience on reporting in a developing country and have their stories published on the HAC-Haiti website and sent to an international community of NGO workers, volunteers, and donors.
Development Intern
HAC-Haiti is seeking an intern experienced in development and fundraising to create innovative outreach documents, plan fundraising events, liaise with potential donors, compile documents, and prepare organizational data and accomplishments for grant use. Development interns will be responsible for creating fundraising campaigns, researching and managing grant applications, and communicating with individuals interested in donating to HAC-Haiti. They would work hand in hand with the internship coordinator and gain valuable experience in non-profit fundraising and grant writing.
Public Health and Nutrition Internship
HAC-Haiti is seeking experienced public health and nutrition students to intern in Croix des Bouquets Haiti. Interns will be responsible for running public health and nutrition trainings from our community center in Croix Des Bouquets. Interns would also gain experience in starting a public health programs, examining issues related to public health and the community, and collecting data on health and hygiene disparities. Interns would have the ability to assist in our water access project, collect field data, analyze data, and write reports to be published on our website and used to partner with local NGOs and international organizations.
English Teaching Internship
Haiti’s proximity to the United States and English’s growing prominence in global markets is making the English language an attractive quality to prospective employers in Haiti. After many in the Croix-des-Bouquets area displayed interest in learning English, HAC started six English courses ranging from beginner to advanced. After the completion of the course, students receive certification, verifying their fluency to prospective employers. The English program is curriculum based, with daily lessons focusing on grammar and communication, through the use of books, worksheets, and multimedia.
HAC-Haiti seeks qualified English language teachers, students studying education, or ESL student teachers to work with our English Program students
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
- Curriculum preparation
- Class Planning
- Teaching 2-3 classes a day
- Preparing tests, quizzes, and placement exams
- Grading and reporting
Qualifications:
- English Teaching Experience or Education
- TEFL/ TESOL/ CELTA certification preferred
- French language skills preferred but not required
Women's Empowernment Internship
HAC-Haiti strongly believes that empowered women are the pathway for development. Many of our programs focus on educating and emancipating women from societal barriers. The woman's program specifically draws from that approach by providing the opportunity, training, and venue for women to gather in unity. We believe that in unity they will create the strength needed to change their livelihoods. Our women's program participants are entrepreneurs, business owners, students, mothers, and grandmothers ranging in age from 16-70. They meet weekly to discuss business strategies, issues related to public health, and to learn new techniques and trades to improve their socioeconomic status. Women's Empowerment interns will be tasked with conducting research on some of the disparities our women's group participants currently face in their everyday lives. They will be asked to come up with trainings and workshops to help support the women's group weekly meetings. Interns will also be asked to engage in livelyhood activities with the women's group and will help structure and support weekly courses in making handycrafts. They will also have the opportunity to help the women's group explore marketing opportunities for their handycrafts to help them support their incomes. French and or Creole speakers are recommended for this internship.
