Development and Social Outreach Internship Fundación Juventas Tunja, Boyacá Colombia

WHAT?:
Fundación Juventas, a non-governmental organization established in 2009, seeks one Development and Social Outreach, and one Legal, Intern, committed to 4-6 months of full-time volunteer workwith Colombia’s at-risk communities, namely displaced youth of Tunja, Boyacá. These children and adolescents, violently forced from their homes by a myriad of actors in Colombia’s armed conflict, have little economic and social resources in their new city. Without opportunities for continued development, these children and their families will be condemned to lives of marginalization and illicit activities. Development and Social Outreach Interns will have two focuses: 1) social work and project management in Fundación Juventas’s five action areas with the displaced population: Protection, Development, Management, Research, and Prevention; and 2) institutional internationalization: fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and establishing professional contactsabroad. Interns may be asked to teach foreign language classes to Juventas youth. Development and Social Outreach Interns also have the option of complementing their social and institutional work at Juventas with coursework at local universities, in fields related to the NGO’s mission.
Fundación Juventas will provide interns with complementary housing.

WHEN?:
Ihe intern will work 40 hours a week for a minimum internship commitment of 4 months. Due to Visa commitments, the maximum internship is six months. The maximum length of stay cannot exceed 6 months in 1 year with a tourist visa.

WHERE?:
Fundación Juventas is located in Tunja, the capital city of the department of Boyacá. Tunja is 2 hours by bus from Colombia’s capital, Bogotá. Tunja does not have a commercial airport, but has reliable and comfortable bus services that connect it with nearby cities and departments. According to Lonely Planet’s 2010 Colombia guidebook, the city, “a bustling student center [one in five residents is a student], has plenty to offer the discerning tourist, with fine colonial architecture, an imposing central square and elegant mansions adorned with some of South America’s most unique artwork” (101). Applicants should also note that Tunja is popularly recognized as one of the safest cities, in one of the safest departments, in Colombia. Interns will spend the majority of their time at the Juventas Training Center, currently located in Tunja’s historical downtown. The majority of administrative and program work will be carried out there. However, students may be required to travel around the city and the department of Boyacá for meetings, conferences, research, outreach, and social work activities. Additionally, interns will have the opportunity to complement their volunteer work at the Fundación by attending university-level courses in fields related to Juventas’ mission, namely at the public Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia and the private Fundación Universitaria Juan de Castellanos, both in Tunja. Interns’ daily volunteer schedules will be adjusted to account for coursework. Fundación Juventas is commited to providing interns with complementary housing in a residence under the foundation’s jurisdiction. This residence is conveniently located within the city of Tunja and with easy access to the Juventas Training Center.

WHY?:
The Development and Social Outreach, Internship is designed to benefit Tunja and the department of Boyacá’s at-risk population (specifically, but not limited to, the displaced population), Fundación Juventas, and the intern themself. Fundación Juventas works with displaced children and youth because, if these youth are not given the opportunity to continue their comprehensive development and formation processes, they will be condemned to life in socioeconomic marginalization, resulting in social problems such as delinquency, prostitution, and involvement illegal groups. Fundación Juventas’s institutional vision is, in the next five years, to become the most effective network specialized in the comprehensive formation of displaced youth and children in Colombia, permitting this demographic to enjoy healthy lives and access projects that directly improve their social reality. In order to achieve this goal, the Fundación seeks a reliable, full-time Development and Social Outreach Intern to strengthen the organization’s international projection in order to secure financial (fundraising), human (volunteers and professionals), and institutional (governmental and non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, religious groups, volunteer and cultural exchange institutions) resources and connections. Interns will also assist the foundation’s development through program participation and development with the target population, research, and organizational management. Finally, these positions will significantly benefit the interns themselves, who gain valuable professional and international experience in community-level work with at-risk populations, NGO management and development, and research. Spanish-language development is an additional benefit. Interns will also have the opportunity to enrich themselves academically by taking university courses in areas related to Juventas’s mission. Fundación Juventas is committed to helping students make professional contacts for future employment towards the end of the internship.

WHO?:
Fundación Juventas seeks international interns with the following characteristics and qualifications: – 18 years or older – must have, or be in the course of obtaining, Bachelor’s Degree – Spanish language proficiency – willingness to live and work in Tunja, Boyacá, Colombia for minimum 4 months – independent and motivated; self-starter and self-regulating; takes initiative and assumes responsibility instead of waiting for others to delegate – able to manage and work with volunteers, at-risk youth; to maintain open, constant, and persistent communication with foundation’s director, potential donors, and staff – out-going, willing to seek and establish institutional relationships with local and international organizations and individuals – patient – creative and innovative – interested in volunteer work with vulnerable populations, social work, community and international development, youth education(potentially in foreign languages) and mentoring, fundraising and grant writing, NGO and project management and development, human rights, poverty alleviation, community-based and academic research

TO APPLY: Please send a cover letter and resume to

Fundación Juventas will contact you shortly. Applications will be due no later than September 1, 2011.