UK roles at the Pod Volunteer office

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Overseas position - Volunteer Coordination & Logistics role, Madagascar 

12 month voluntary post (food and transport paid in the field)

The role of Volunteer and Logistics Intern offers the right candidate a unique and exciting opportunity to work across both field and office environments providing planning, logistical and pastoral support to Madagascar volunteers. The officer will work alongside both local and international teams and based in the town of Fort Dauphin, they will also spend time out in the field living in basic conditions in rural southeast Madagascar.

The role is to ensure the smooth functioning of short-term programmes, acting as a key liaison between project and volunteering teams in both the field and the office base, to provide logistical support for all long-term volunteers and to ensure that programmes are marketed and externally visible.   

Duties and responsibilities:

Community Development and Short term construction volunteers (Office based)

• Working alongside the volunteering and project teams to plan the volunteering schedules 
• Co-ordinate with project teams and write project summaries of each project to be undertaken, including their rational and impact
• Work alongside the charity's London and Madagascar based teams providing support to volunteers prior to departure
• Conduct welcome talks, orientations and activity briefings to ensure volunteers are fully informed about project work, local culture etc.
• Update and review all volunteer information including orientation guide, orientation talks and all documentation in the Co-ordinator’s file
• Lead on social media content for the programmes including pioneer blogs, collation of photographs and video
• Support the London team with marketing the programmes 
• Provide feedback and reports from the field-based projects to the project teams within the office
• Work alongside the project development team in monitoring and evaluating projects
• Lead on the collection, analysis and dissemination of feedback from the programmes
• Ensure all handbooks, procedures and risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated
• Work with the Head of Construction to maintain tools database for the programmes 
• Maintain tent log and the restocking of equipment as required

Community Development and Short term construction volunteers (Field based)

• Settle volunteers into work in the field placements, working alongside the team leader to ensure successful communication between volunteers, project teams, guides and the construction team (including debriefs and feedback sessions)
• Ensure support and care are provided to maintain the physical and mental welfare of volunteers
• Provide guidance and intervention to ensure all staff and volunteers act in a positive and culturally/ environmentally sensitive way
• Ensure risk assessments are in place for each activity 
• Ensure social media content for the programmes including pioneer blogs, collation of photographs and video is collected

Long term Volunteer Liaison

• Provide logistical support for new volunteers
• Work within a team providing initial settling-in support 
• Provide support with all recruitment of long term staff and volunteer admin 

Practicalities:
The ideal candidate will:
• Be able to financially support themselves for the duration of their contract
• Hold a recent, valid first aid certificate
• Have a suitable laptop computer (non-tablet) and tent

Next steps:
If you are interested in the role please contact gemma@podvolunteer.org for further details  

Overseas roles - Volunteer Veterinary Nurse, South Africa

Our partner Monkey Rescue project in South Africa is looking to recruit a volunteer veterinary nurse (unpaid, accommodation provided).

It’s an amazing opportunity for a long-term volunteer to gain experience working for a charity utilising their veterinary skills.

Position Summary:

• Daily monitoring of all primates
• Management of any health issues (medications, additional feeding etc)
• Observations, if necessary
• Record keeping
• Research, if necessary
• Accompany primates to the vet
• Vaccinations & de-worming of all primates
• Management of a diabetic Mona monkey including insulin injections daily, glucose curves & diet monitoring
• All long term volunteers are required to do morning feeds on a rota basis and evening wash up if we are short staffed
• From time to time, when the sanctuary is under pressure (new arrivals etc), you may be asked to do other duties if it does not interfere with the duties outlined above
• Microscope – Must be fully competent in performing routine fecal exams, and knowledgeable in all aspects of veterinary parasitology. You may be the only person on site with these skills so be prepared to be self-motivated in researching and expanding the laboratory portion of our future clinic.

Minimum age of 23 is desirable dependent on experience. Copies of veterinary qualification certificates will be requested.

What the project does: The sanctuary, which is the first of its kind in South Africa, has been running since 1996. The sanctuary currently cares for over 100 primates of varying species including marmosets, tamarins, mona monkeys, squirrel monkeys, macaques, and lemurs. The sanctuary rescues and provides permanent care for any primate from anywhere in the world. The sanctuary receives a constant stream of requests to assist in the international rescue of primates. Many of these primates arrive with behavioural problems and require rehabilitation. The sanctuary hopes to be able to expand in order to cope with the high demand and with an aim to provide accommodation for apes in the future.

To learn more about the project please see the following link: http://www.podvolunteer.org/projects/monkey-sanctuary-south-africa/

Location: The sanctuary is located in Pretoria, which is approximately 45 minutes north of Johannesburg.

Next steps: If this of interest to you, you have any questions or you would like to apply for the position please email bee@podvolunteer.org