Climate Resilience Facilitator

Apply by

October 1, 2024

Know by

December 1, 2024

Depart on

June 16, 2025

Duration

2 years, plus 3 months training

Project description

The Kingdom of Tonga – located in Polynesia in the South Pacific – consisting of 169 islands stretches 500 miles north to south with a land mass of 290 square miles over 270,000 square miles of ocean. A strongly Christian nation, religion plays a large part in Tongan society and intersects with custom beliefs and the four golden values of Tonga: mutual respect, sharing, cooperating and fulfillment of mutual obligations, humility and generosity, and loyalty and commitment.

Tonga is one of the world’s most exposed countries to climate change and natural disasters increasing the complexity and variability for community resilience and risk management. The Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications (MEIDECC) and Peace Corps continue to build a strong partnership focused on improving climate change outcomes. The focus of this development approach is long-term and sustained shared learning, understanding, and growth. Relationship building, collaboration, and locally prioritized projects are measures for success. For Volunteers, the quiet pace and hands-off approach of the Peace Corps’ development model can take adjustment. Rather than managing much themselves, Volunteers support the growth of foundational knowledge and skills that, when understood deeply, can be transformational. Along the way, there are vibrant opportunities for Volunteers to leverage their skills and passions, catalyzing localized solutions in their communities.

Role

Volunteers play multiple roles during their service. Volunteers and their partners are trained to utilize participatory tools in a phased, asset-based approach to uncover existing strengths, advantages, and opportunities:

• Increasing knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the environment, climate change, and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
  
  

Volunteers co-design and co-develop environmental, climate change, and DRR and preparedness education resources; co-train, co-teach, and co-facilitate environmental education lessons in schools and communities that increase knowledge of local climate change impacts, disaster risk reduction and preparedness, and environmental appreciation and conservation; and co-plan and co-facilitate environmental education clubs and camps.

• Assessing and action planning for community-specific climate risks
  
  

Volunteers co-facilitate equitable and inclusive community-level climate impact risk assessments, co-creating action plans for community-level adaptation and mitigation aligned with national action plans and local community development plans, and co-training community members on climate change risk management.

• Strengthening community-level climate change adaptation and mitigation measures
  
  

Volunteers co-implement adaptation and mitigation measures including guiding communities and schools on best practices for waste management, implementing sustainable water improvement practices; supporting best practices for environmental conservation; co-facilitating youth camps, clubs, and community workshops focused on leadership skills and project planning.

Climate change activities

As The Impacts Of Climate Change Become Ever More Evident, The Social, Economic, And Environmental Conditions Faced By Local Communities Will Become Increasingly Problematic, Particularly For Vulnerable Households In Low-lying Areas And Historically Marginalized Communities. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, You Will Be Trained To Use a Participatory Approach And Tools To Identify Locally Determined Priorities And Conditions, Including Those Related To The Impacts Of Climate Change. The Types Of Interventions Undertaken Will Be Guided By National And Local Priorities For Climate Change Adaptation As Identified In Your Country’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) And Those Environment-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 6, 12, 13, 14 & 15) That Have Been Identified For Local Action. As An Environment Volunteer, You Will Be Trained To Use This Knowledge To Work With Government, Local, And Community Stakeholders To Mitigate Some Of The Adverse Impacts Of Climate Change While Promoting Resiliency, And Engaging In Projects And Activities That

• strengthen the ability of vulnerable households and communities to respond to extreme weather events such as cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons;
• enhance local and community capacities for effective implementation of NAP and SDG priorities;
• reduce greenhouse gas emissions through promoting the expansion of renewable energy technologies;
• support the development of sustainable mechanisms that incorporate the “3 Rs” (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) of effective solid waste management practices; and
• work with Volunteers in other sectors to integrate climate change adaptation practices into their activities (e.g., work with Health Volunteers to reduce respiratory health issues of women and girls through use of improved cook stoves; work with Education Volunteers to mitigate the impact of heat waves on local teaching or establishing tree nurseries and planting trees to reduce the time that students use in collecting firewood).
  
  

Required Skills

Qualified candidates will have an expressed interest in promoting environmental awareness in schools and communities, and one or more of the following criteria:

• Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in any field
  
  

AND/OR

• 5 years’ professional work experience in Science, environment, or climate-change related field.
  
  

Desired Skills

Competitive candidates will have one or more of the following criteria:

• BA/BS in Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, Environmental Education, or a related field.
• One or more year(s) of professional work experience in environmental education, environmental activities, and/or climate change resilience or adaptation activities.
• Experience organizing and/or facilitating environmental activities.
• Experience teaching environmental content to all ages, including effective classroom management and informal education.
  
  

While not mandatory, the ability to swim and being comfortable with travel over the ocean in either small commercial ferries or small fishing boats is desirable as Tonga is a small island nation consisting of many small islands requiring ferry or boat travel.

Required Language Skills

There are no pre-requisite language requirements for this position. Volunteers will be given initial and ongoing training in the Tongan language. Basic Tongan is very helpful to enable Volunteers to understand and integrate with the communities in which they live and work. Some Volunteer counterparts and community members will speak English, which can prove challenging to continued Tongan language learning when at site. Volunteers are strongly encouraged to use Tongan even in situations where they could use English. Efforts to use Tongan go a long way with developing relationships at site. Volunteers are expected to engage in continual language learning throughout their service utilizing e-learning, community tutors, and immersion in their communities. A good control of the Tongan language is necessary to effectively work in the community and continual practice in Tongan language will increase the impact of Volunteer activities. Additionally, consistent practice in the community is important to pick-up the colloquial or casual communication most often used. Climate Resilience Facilitator will be working closely with the community and may require greater mastery of the Tongan language.

Living conditions

When trainees first arrive in Tonga, they will live with a host family during Pre-Service Training (PST). Following PST, Volunteers will be assigned host families in their community. Some Volunteers will live with their host family in a homestay while others will live in a separate house close to their host family or in the community. Any independent housing will be close to host families or other community members. Volunteers may be expected to live in a homestay with a host family for up to six months of their service. Host families provide several advantages to Volunteer service including support in integration, language, identifying resources, and safety and security.

Most Volunteers are assigned to small rural communities with between 100 and 1000 people. Most Volunteers have electricity, running water, flush toilets, and basic amenities, though Volunteers should be prepared to live with limited to no access to these amenities at any given time during their service. Depending on the community, water can come in the form of a pumped water supply or rain catchment. Electricity and water can be affected by breakdowns in machinery used to provide electricity or pump water to the community. In some cases, remote communities have schedules when electricity will be turned on or off.

Volunteers’ phone plans include free calls and texts to all staff and Volunteers and a 7GB monthly data plan. Volunteers can either use their own personal device with a Peace Corps-provided SIM card or be provided a local generic smartphone upon arrival to Tonga. Outer Island Volunteers may also be issued a satellite phone and/or personal locator beacon for emergency communication. Internet services are generally available throughout Tonga, including the outer islands, via mobile data providers. Post will be supporting continual online learning throughout service and will support Volunteers in accessing needed services and devices.

Transportation while in the community primarily consists of walking and local community transport. Reliable and efficient bus and taxi service are only available on the main island of Tongatapu. Travel to and from the outer island groups is most often via small commercial ferries/cargo ships. Small boats are used for travel within island groups to the outer islands. Plane service is also available to the outer island groups. Delays due to weather or maintenance are common and require patience and flexibility.

Inclement weather can also impact running water, electricity as well as internet/phone service. When these situations occur, this calls Volunteers to be flexible. The staff assess the weather situation daily during cyclone season and communicate alerts to Volunteers. Safety and Security is a top priority and the emergency action plan is covered during training.

Food is often the center of any event and a core component of Tongan cultural values. On Sundays and for special occasions, Tongan families prepare food with an underground oven called an ‘umu.’ Food in Tonga consists primarily of root crops (yams, taro, cassava, etc.) and meat (beef, pork, chicken, etc.) or fish/seafood. Vegetables are not common to most meals. While vegetables are available, they can be challenging to come by regularly. Many community members are farmers – whether farming to provide food or to sell their crops. In most communities, Volunteers will need to be prepared to navigate a diet that is primarily root crop and meat-based with vegetables being less common.

Volunteers are encouraged to be self-reliant as adjusting to life on a remote island can be difficult. Integration is an important cornerstone for a successful service and can be driven by use of Tongan language. Successful integration requires flexibility, humility, curiosity, perseverance, a healthy sense of humor, and consistent repeated efforts at building relationships.

Learn more about the Volunteer experience in Tonga: Get detailed information on culture, communications, housing, and health/crime statistics in order to make a well-informed decision about serving.

Medical considerations

Before you apply, please review medical clearance and legal clearance to learn about the process.

Couples information

Couples in Tonga will serve together in the same community. Partners must apply and qualify to serve as an English Language Teacher and Facilitator or Climate Resilience Facilitator.

During Pre-Service Training (PST) and the eleven weeks of community-based training, couples should expect to live in separate households. They will be hosted by different host families and might be in different communities during PST. Placing each partner in a different household during PST allows for increased interaction with host families to learn the language, and an equitable training environment for both partners. Site placements for dual environment sector couples would be in the same community or in a central location serving multiple communities. Site placements for mixed education and environment couples will be placed near schools which might serve multiple communities. In service, couples will live together in a house provided by one of their respective communities. Depending on the situation, couples might be separated in case of medical or emergency related travel. While at site, couples often face challenges not faced by single Volunteers. Integration and immersion can prove more difficult as communities tend to give couples more space and allow them to spend more time with each other. This requires couples to be more proactive engaging in their community.

Additionally, with the gender norms in-country couples may experience different expectations along gender lines, based on the traditional distribution of roles in the Tongan household.

Peace Corps works to foster safe and productive assignments for same-sex couples and same-sex couples are not placed in countries where homosexual acts are criminalized. Because of this, same-sex couples’ placements are more limited than heterosexual couple placements. During the application process, Recruiters and Placement Officers work closely with same-sex couple applicants to understand current placement opportunities.

For more information please visit: https://www.peacecorps.gov/faqs/lgbtq/