Thailand: Volunteer: Project Officer (Mae Sot)

Volunteer: Project Officer (Thai- Burma border, Mae Sot)

Position duration: 3 months minimum, preferably 3 – 6 months or longer.

Position Overview:

Burma Children Medical Fund (BCMF) seeks an energetic and organised volunteer to work in a program support capacity. The primary purpose of this position is to support local staff to document patient interviews; and support capacity building activities for staff.

The key duties (up to 70% of work time) of a Mae Sot-based volunteer position will include:

· patient intake (interviewing patients with an interpreter) for the BCMF, BAMF and BWMF programs;

· conducting post-treatment interviews;

· documenting patient interviews;

· editing patient interviews;

Other work duties may include:

· supporting local staff with daily activities, projects and reporting

· proofing and editing English language documents and social media;

· preparing content and updating BCMF social media

· developing materials and activities to support improvements in English language (particularly written English) of BCMF staff and volunteers;

· capacity building activities including training/workshops on topics such as English language skills/Operational skills/Human rights/Health (dependent upon volunteer skills)

· Data collection for reports

· Compilation of statistics

· Report writing

· Photography and videography

· Preparation of project reports/proposals to established BCMF funders/donors

· Identification of new program/project donors

· Assisting with other projects, as assigned.

Person Specification:

Essential

• English language proficiency at advanced level
• Good writing skills
• Attention to detail
• Organised and energetic, with a desire to work alongside and support co-workers
• At least intermediate skill level in MS Office Suite (MS Word, Excel, etc)
• Ability to use initiative and be pro-active
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision
• Ability to cope with cultural isolation and a different standard of living and work environment
• Preparedness to work with limited resources within a challenging environment
• Commitment to team work, coaching, and mentoring others
• Awareness and sensitivity of cross-cultural settings
• Patience, tolerance and flexibility
• Volunteer will need to provide a working with children check and police check or equivalent from country of residence

Desirable

• Volunteering or work experience in the non-profit sector
• Interest in migrant and refugee issues, international politics, human rights etc.
• Experience working with migrants, refugees and displaced people.
• Experience working in a health setting
• Experience providing English language support
• Interest in, and ability to work with, web-based communications and social media
• Experience working in a resource limited environment

At BCMF we believe that longer term volunteering can make a real contribution to communities and provides the opportunity to build relationships and immerse oneself into community. Given the context in which we work, longer term volunteering provides an opportunity to develop an understanding of some of the complexities of the context.

In return you will have the opportunity to:

• work with an organization and community that offers valuable learning experiences regarding access to health for migrants, refugees and IDPs from Burma; and the socio-political context on the Thai-Burma border;
• develop your skills and knowledge working in community based organizations.

A BCMF volunteer placement will provide you with direct field experience working with displaced and refugee communities along the Thai - Burma border. You will work alongside staff from Mae Tao Clinic www.maetaoclinic.org and be a key member of the small but efficient team at BCMF www.burmachildren.com

About BCMF

BCMF strongly believes that everyone has a right to healthcare and we strive to provide this opportunity to people from Burma regardless of age, sex, race, religion and legal status.

The Burma Children Medical Fund was founded in 2006 as a response to the increasing number of patients presenting at Mae Tao Clinic who required surgery that the clinic could not provide. Prior to the establishment of BCMF, many patients who required complex surgery could only have their symptoms treated at Mae Tao Clinic and lived severely incapacitated lives or died prematurely as a result. The aim of BCMF is to facilitate access to treatment for patients with complex medical conditions. BCMF does this by sourcing funds and linking patients with treatment and social support.

Additionally, BCMF works in the areas of health promotion, health literacy, health worker training and other capacity building and development activities identified in partnership with our key stakeholders, particularly in Eastern Burma.

While the treatment of children is a BCMF priority we have also established two funds for adults, the Burma Adult Medical Fund (BAMF) and the Burma Women Medical Fund (BWMF). These programs facilitate access to treatment for adults (18 years and over) that will respond well to surgery or treatment.

Since 2006, we have supported over 2000 patients, and each year our caseload increases. We continue to see many patients from all over Burma and we aim to facilitate treatment for as many people as possible. Increasingly, BCMF is working in Burma to support health system strengthening and develop referral pathways with a view to decreasing the numbers of patients who need to travel across the border into Thailand to access healthcare.

If you would like more information about volunteering with BCMF please contact Jacqui Whelan jacqui@burmachildren.com.