Start date
August 3, 2026

End date
October 16, 2026

Duration
12 weeks

ELIGIBILITY: Must be at least 18 years of age. Must be a U.S. citizen.

Activity/project background

The Municipality of Santa María, Boyacá, is a local government entity serving 3,758 residents in a rural community located four hours from Bogotá. Current local priorities focus on strengthening education and fostering economic opportunities through tourism and agriculture. Within this framework, the municipality created the bilingualism program “Aprender inglés, transformar vidas,” which focuses on improving English proficiency among secondary students and enhancing the pedagogical and linguistic skills of local teachers.

Santa María faces limited access to qualified English teachers and students often lack opportunities to practice with native speakers, reducing their competitiveness for higher education and employment. To address these needs, the municipality is requesting the support a Virtual Service Pilot Participant who will co-facilitate English learning and conversation spaces for secondary students.

While Peace Corps Colombia does not currently deploy two-year Volunteers to Santa María, the scale of this project in rural areas makes it well-suited for virtual engagement. The virtual environment offers an appropriate and sustainable way to provide targeted technical support while fostering intercultural exchange.

The organization has previously collaborated with the Peace Corps, and they wish to continue with the activities developed by the last VSPPs. They understand that the role of a VSPP is very different than a Peace Corps Volunteer or Peace Corps Response Volunteer.

Engagement and tasks

The VSPP will engage in the following tasks, in collaboration with their host country partners:

• Co-assess the English language levels of participating students
• Co-design session plans for English club meetings for high school students (grades 8–11)
• Co-teach one 90-minute English club per week with high school students (between 8–10 participants), focused on conversation practice and cultural exchange
  
  

VSPPs are expected to engage on the tasks listed above for an estimated 5–15 hours per week. This engagement is estimated to be four hours per week.

Online collaboration will generally occur after school, after 5:00 p.m. Colombia time. Specific times will be determined during orientation.

The Host Country Counterpart will have access to Teams and Zoom calls for regular communication and collaboration.

Per the Child Protection Code of Conduct, when engaging online with minors (0–18), two adults must be present.

Optional Additional Activities

The Peace Corps mission is to promote world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals:

• To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
• To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
• To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
  
  

Goal 1 will be achieved through the VSPP's engagement and completion of the above tasks. The counterpart and VSPP may also choose to identify an activity that aligns with Goal 2. Additionally, the VSPP may identify a Goal 3 activity to implement during their engagement. See recommendations and tools for Goal 3 activities.

Essential Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree in any field

Language: Intermediate Spanish

Experience: 1 year of TEFL/TESOL teaching for primary or secondary school students in the U.S.A. or abroad

Intercultural skills and motivation: Flexible, strong cross-cultural agility, high tolerance for ambiguity, able to work independently, resourceful, creative, and genuinely motivated and capable to serve virtually