Community Health Promoter - Volunteer Position - Onsite in Guatemala • North America - 2 years, plus 3 months training
Peace Corps
United States
Posted on Apr 3, 2026
About The Project
Communities in Guatemala are paving the way to healthier lives through education—and you can join the effort!
In low-income areas of the country, maternal and child morbidity and mortality remain high, undernutrition is widespread, and health services are underfunded. Additionally, many communities are seeing a surge in chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. There is also a lack of resources dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyle practices and positive mental health, especially with the youth population.
As a Community Health Promoter, you’ll collaborate with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to strengthen existing programs and design new initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes. Alongside the community, you will promote healthy practices that prevent or address key health issues. By focusing on providing quality health education, you’ll allow individuals to take control of their health and build a foundation for a healthier future.
Activities
How you and the community will make an impact together:
Interview healthcare stakeholders, identify existing health education activities, and analyze available data in a needs assessment.
Identify opportunities for health promotion and education within the community.
Plan and implement collaborative activities to address priority health needs.
Develop educational resources to enhance educational events.
Train health workers in adult-learning techniques and youth service providers in creating safe spaces for health education on topics such as teen pregnancy prevention.
Apply behavior change analysis using the designing for behavior change framework to guide interventions.
Support home visits with health workers to provide individualized health education.
You may also support community-driven initiatives based on local priorities and your own interests, such as community-wide 5k races and health fairs.
Required Skills
Qualified candidates will have an expressed interest in working in the health sector and one or more of the following criteria:
APPLY BY : August 15, 2026
KNOW BY : October 1, 2026
DEPART ON : March 1, 2027
DURATION : 2 years, plus 3 months training
Communities in Guatemala are paving the way to healthier lives through education—and you can join the effort!
In low-income areas of the country, maternal and child morbidity and mortality remain high, undernutrition is widespread, and health services are underfunded. Additionally, many communities are seeing a surge in chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. There is also a lack of resources dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyle practices and positive mental health, especially with the youth population.
As a Community Health Promoter, you’ll collaborate with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to strengthen existing programs and design new initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes. Alongside the community, you will promote healthy practices that prevent or address key health issues. By focusing on providing quality health education, you’ll allow individuals to take control of their health and build a foundation for a healthier future.
Activities
How you and the community will make an impact together:
Interview healthcare stakeholders, identify existing health education activities, and analyze available data in a needs assessment.
Identify opportunities for health promotion and education within the community.
Plan and implement collaborative activities to address priority health needs.
Develop educational resources to enhance educational events.
Train health workers in adult-learning techniques and youth service providers in creating safe spaces for health education on topics such as teen pregnancy prevention.
Apply behavior change analysis using the designing for behavior change framework to guide interventions.
Support home visits with health workers to provide individualized health education.
You may also support community-driven initiatives based on local priorities and your own interests, such as community-wide 5k races and health fairs.
Required Skills
Qualified candidates will have an expressed interest in working in the health sector and one or more of the following criteria:
- Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in any field
- 5 years' professional work experience
- Completed 4 years of high school Spanish coursework in the past 8 years
- Completed college-level Elementary II Spanish semester (Elementary III in quarter system) within the past 6 years
- Score between 50-62 on the Spanish College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exam in the past 6 years
- Score Novice-High or Intermediate-Low on official American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) in Spanish within the past 6 years
APPLY BY : August 15, 2026
KNOW BY : October 1, 2026
DEPART ON : March 1, 2027
DURATION : 2 years, plus 3 months training