Volunteer Healthcare Corps

  Botswana

  Ethiopia

  South Africa

  Tanzania

Term: Not Applicable 
Durations of Program: 3-6 months, 7-12 months and 1-2 years
Typical Duration of Program: 5-8 weeks

Description: The Volunteer Healthcare Corps (VHC) is a distinct but complementary component AIHA's institutional twinning program, targeted to rapidly expand the pool of trained providers, managers, and allied health staff delivering quality HIV/AIDS care to people living with HIV/AIDS. The program is designed to provide an opportunity for skilled professionals from varying fields to serve the cause of global health by volunteering their time.

Volunteers help scale up existing services and jump start new projects through long-term placements at twinning partnership sites and other organizations that receive PEPFAR support. They serve as catalysts for sustainable change as they transfer knowledge and skills through joint operations with local counterparts. Volunteers support the provision of healthcare services, spearhead educational campaigns, and offer mentoring and technical assistance. In doing so, each volunteer makes a meaningful difference in the global fight against AIDS.

Qualifications: Volunteers are highly-qualified, resourceful individuals capable of working independently on need-based projects developed in conjunction with partner organizations. Volunteer assignments range from three months to two years. Most opportunities are for trained healthcare professionals not just doctors and nurses, but also social workers, health educators, lab technicians, etc. Opportunities for volunteers to work in information technology, management, or organizational development are also available.

The Volunteer Healthcare Corps currently operates in four countries: Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa and Botswana.

The program in Ethiopia, the Diaspora Initiative has the benefit of recruiting highly-skilled Diaspora professionals with particular motivation to return to Ethiopia, allowing them to quickly engage in both professional and personal activities while confronting less cultural barriers. With this program, there is a strong potential for repatriation, contributing to the Ethiopian workforce.

Typical assignments range from three months to two years, depending on the needs of the host institution.

Programs in Tanzania, South Africa, and Botswana are open to US and Canadian citizens or permanent residents. The basic requirements to be considered as a VHC volunteer include:

* Be at least 21 years of age
* Have a bachelors degree
* Have a health-related professional skill identified to focus on countrys HIV strategic plan
* Have professional experience of at least two to five years (this depends on the assignment)
* Be of sound mental and physical health
* Have a strong desire to improve healthcare in developing and transitional countries
* Meet professional licensure and certification requirements, if applicable to the assignment

Experience Required: yes

Relevant professional experience of at least two to five years (depending on placement site) is required.

This Program is open to American, Australian, Canadian and European Participants.

Participants Travel Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently

Application Process Involves:

• Online Application plus Application Assessment
• Phone Interview
• Resume

Post-Program Services Include:

• Exit Debriefing Abroad

American International Health Alliance's Mission Statement: In 2004, the American International Health Alliance (AIHA) founded the HIV/AIDS Twinning Center, a capacity-building mechanism for supporting the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The Twinning Center focuses on strengthening national HIV/AIDS strategies through the creation of peer-to-peer, voluntary relationships between institutions that provide HIV/AIDS-related care and treatment services, and has supported human and institutional capacity building using exchanges, training, and technical assistance. The Volunteer Healthcare Corps (VHC) is a distinct but complementary component of this larger institutional twinning program, targeted to rapidly expand the pool of trained providers, managers, and allied health staff delivering quality HIV/AIDS care to people living with HIV/AIDS. The program is designed to provide an opportunity for skilled professionals from varying fields to serve the cause of global health by volunteering their time.

Year Founded: 1992