Water Sanitation and Hygiene Educator - Volunteer Position - Onsite in Vanuatu • Pacific Islands - 2 years, plus 3 months training
United States
Posted on Jul 4, 2026
About The Project
Eager to jumpstart or continue a fulfilling career in public health? Vanuatu communities are looking to strengthen nutrition and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices.
Vanuatu’s 83-island archipelago is home to largely rural communities striving to improve their public health. The country faces a complex double burden of malnutrition: many children suffer from chronic undernutrition while adults experience rising rates of diet‑related noncommunicable diseases, including diabetes and hypertension. Limited access to safe water and adequate sanitation across dispersed island communities drives preventable waterborne illness and further undermines nutrition and wellbeing. These challenges are compounded by geographic isolation, constrained infrastructure, and scarce resources—all of which hinder equitable access to health services and make sustained behavior change difficult to achieve.
As a Community Health Facilitator, you will collaborate with the community to strengthen household nutrition knowledge and practices as well as expand access to clean water and safe sanitation. Together, you will identify opportunities to develop the technical and facilitation skills of health workers. Your efforts to promote sustainable solutions and evidence-based behavior changes will improve family health and community resilience.
Activities
How you and the community will make an impact together:
Assess household nutrition and WASH needs, using participatory community mapping and data collection tools.
Conduct home visits and facilitate small group education sessions with parents and caregivers.
Facilitate workshops on breastfeeding, dietary diversity, handwashing with soap, and safe water storage practices.
Train families to construct, use, and maintain improved sanitation facilities and handwashing stations.
Strengthen the capacity of health workers in adult-learning principles and behavior change communication techniques.
Support community health committees in participatory project planning and resource management.
Collaborate with community members to design and implement small-scale WASH infrastructure improvements.
You may also work on additional projects that meet the community’s interests and priorities, such as supporting disaster risk reduction (DRR) committees or women's groups with income-generation activities.
Required Skills
Qualified candidates will have one or more of the following criteria:
Associate degree in any field and at least two years of full-time, post-high school work experience (from any combination of roles).
OR
Bachelor's degree in any field.
OR
High school diploma or GED and four years of full-time, post-high school work (from any combination of roles).
Language: There are no pre-requisite language requirements for this position.
Key dates
APPLY BY : November 15, 2026
KNOW BY : January 1, 2027
DEPART ON : June 13, 2027
DURATION : 2 years, plus 3 months training
Eager to jumpstart or continue a fulfilling career in public health? Vanuatu communities are looking to strengthen nutrition and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices.
Vanuatu’s 83-island archipelago is home to largely rural communities striving to improve their public health. The country faces a complex double burden of malnutrition: many children suffer from chronic undernutrition while adults experience rising rates of diet‑related noncommunicable diseases, including diabetes and hypertension. Limited access to safe water and adequate sanitation across dispersed island communities drives preventable waterborne illness and further undermines nutrition and wellbeing. These challenges are compounded by geographic isolation, constrained infrastructure, and scarce resources—all of which hinder equitable access to health services and make sustained behavior change difficult to achieve.
As a Community Health Facilitator, you will collaborate with the community to strengthen household nutrition knowledge and practices as well as expand access to clean water and safe sanitation. Together, you will identify opportunities to develop the technical and facilitation skills of health workers. Your efforts to promote sustainable solutions and evidence-based behavior changes will improve family health and community resilience.
Activities
How you and the community will make an impact together:
Assess household nutrition and WASH needs, using participatory community mapping and data collection tools.
Conduct home visits and facilitate small group education sessions with parents and caregivers.
Facilitate workshops on breastfeeding, dietary diversity, handwashing with soap, and safe water storage practices.
Train families to construct, use, and maintain improved sanitation facilities and handwashing stations.
Strengthen the capacity of health workers in adult-learning principles and behavior change communication techniques.
Support community health committees in participatory project planning and resource management.
Collaborate with community members to design and implement small-scale WASH infrastructure improvements.
You may also work on additional projects that meet the community’s interests and priorities, such as supporting disaster risk reduction (DRR) committees or women's groups with income-generation activities.
Required Skills
Qualified candidates will have one or more of the following criteria:
Associate degree in any field and at least two years of full-time, post-high school work experience (from any combination of roles).
OR
Bachelor's degree in any field.
OR
High school diploma or GED and four years of full-time, post-high school work (from any combination of roles).
Language: There are no pre-requisite language requirements for this position.
Key dates
APPLY BY : November 15, 2026
KNOW BY : January 1, 2027
DEPART ON : June 13, 2027
DURATION : 2 years, plus 3 months training