Projects in Albania and Montenegro

Youth Health and Well-being (Albania)

Project goal

Empower and inform school children and youth to lead healthy lives and effectively transition to productive and engaged adults.

Project objectives

• Increase the knowledge and skills of children and youth in health and life skills in order to improve their health and well-being
• Increase the capacity of school-based staff to provide health and life skills education
• Develop and increase collaboration with service providers and community partners to effectively support the health and well-being of children and youth

The Health program focuses on Youth Health and Well-being (YHW). The YHW program supports children and youth aged 5-19 years old to lead healthy lives, and to effectively transition to healthy, productive and engaged adults. Volunteers in this project are placed in schools to co-facilitate classroom health and physical education lessons, following the national health curriculum. Outside of the classroom, Volunteers coordinate extracurricular activities and camps with a focus on health and well-being.

Peace Corps is well positioned to help achieve improved health, well-being, and life outcomes among children and youth in Albania. Peace Corps Albania and Montenegro has established close partnerships with governmental institutions and local actors, which has strengthened the impact of our response and support of community and country needs. It supports national policies, strategies, and priorities of the three ministries in Albania (the Ministry of Education and Sports, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, and the Minister of State for Children and Youth.

Youth Health and Well-being Volunteers work with teachers, school psychologists, social workers, student school government, and local community partners, with the aim of enabling children and youth (5-19 years old) to develop the necessary life skills to make responsible and healthy life decisions.

Health Education Volunteers co-organize curricular (in-school) and extracurricular (after-school) activities, such as camps, clubs, awareness-raising campaigns, sports and physical education projects, and science fairs. They leverage the available school and community resources to promote the importance of health and wellbeing, to cultivate leadership opportunities, and other life skills that are important for children and youth to be successful in school and in life.

Organizational Development (Albania)

Project goal

Support Albanian communities, organizations, and individuals to effectively manage community development

Project objectives

• Strengthen the capacity of organizations to improve the services they offer.
• Support community groups, organizations, and individuals to effectively manage community development.
• Collaborate with organizations to offer professional development and civic engagement opportunities for community members.

The Organizational Development project seeks to strengthen organizational capacity at the local level. Volunteers under this project are assigned to work alongside governmental agencies and community-based organizations to effectively manage community development efforts. Volunteers promote asset-based approaches to community development, civil society engagement, good governance, and networking among stakeholders.

Volunteers work with local counterparts on issues such as urban planning, economic development, tourism development, organizational development, strategic planning, information management, community mobilization and outreach, youth development (leadership and employability) and promotion of citizen involvement in community decision-making.

English Education (Albania)

Project goal

Strengthen teaching and learning capacities in the English language.

Project objectives

• Use co-teaching approaches for planning and presenting English language lessons, as well as promoting gender equity.
• Create opportunities to practice and improve English language skills.
• Support extracurricular activities for English, youth, and leadership skills development.
• Implement school facilities improvement projects.
• Provide non-formal English education to community members

The Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) program, through the work of its school-based Volunteers, supports student language acquisition and the professional development of English teachers through improved language proficiency and instructional methodology aligned with communicative language teaching. TEFL Volunteers co-teach English lessons with their English teacher counterparts and coordinate clubs, camps and other extracurricular activities aimed at developing youth leadership and life skills.

Volunteers serving in the English Education project work with English teachers, students at middle and high school levels throughout Albania to develop teaching and learning capacities in English language. English has become an absolute priority as Albania strives to join the European Union. It is in high demand by students and parents alike, as it is the language that creates enormous study, work, and partnership opportunities. The English Education program, through the work of the Volunteers, directly addresses teachers’ professional development needs related to language proficiency and instructional practices aligned with communicative teaching methods.

Volunteers increase proficiency and confidence in teachers and students’ skills inside and outside of the classroom. Volunteers teach critical thinking skills to solve problems. In addition to classroom teaching, Volunteers organize clubs and camps, initiate and support youth development efforts, help develop student government in schools, share English language resources, develop teaching materials with local teachers, and become involved in locally identified community and school-based projects.

English Education (Montenegro)

Project goal

Develop teaching and learning capacities in the English language.

Project objectives

• Use of co-teaching approaches for planning and presenting English language lessons, as well as promoting gender equity.
• Create opportunities for practicing and improving English language skills.
• Support extracurricular activities for English, youth, and leadership skills development.
• Implement improvement projects for school facilities.
• Provide non-formal English education to community members

Volunteers are assigned to primary schools (1st – 9th grade) or secondary schools (10th grade and beyond) and co-teach with one or more Montenegrin English teachers. Volunteers are expected to cooperate and work alongside their teaching counterpart, whether it be lesson planning or co-teaching in the classroom.

Volunteers’ work will focus on improving English language skills of students and teachers and introducing new teaching techniques to teachers. After school hours, Volunteers cultivate non-traditional learning activities, such as English clubs or other activities that promote English skills and/or youth life skills development. During the summer, Volunteers may implement activities in their communities, such as summer camps or other student-centered events that promote youth development.

All Volunteers learn to speak the local language as this is a key tool for work and integration into their community.