ABOUT EDUCATE.
educate. is a grassroots non-profit organisation that works to empower children and young people in Honduras through supporting community-driven initiatives focused on education.
Honduras has the highest rate of economic inequality in Latin America, and over 60% of the population live in poverty. Only half of all students carry on their education past 6th grade, and the prospect of university is off the cards for most of the country’s youth. Without opportunities to study, young people are disproportionately affected by the country’s debilitating poverty, overwhelming violence and systematic inequality. educate. provides opportunities for ambitious, high-potential youth from low-income backgrounds to pursue secondary and tertiary education, and we work to support locally led spaces of community engagement.
In the rural coffee-growing department of Trinidad, Santa Barbara we run a Youth Center and Public Library, a high school and university scholarship programme, and ongoing leadership and youth empowerment programmes on themes such as arts, computer literacy, environmental protection, gender and sexual health and rights, and communication and storytelling, as well as peer-to-peer mentorship and tutoring.
In a country deeply affected by political and social crises, educate. believes in the power of young people to drive long-lasting change in their communities.
WHAT are we looking for?
We are looking for a semi-professional photographer/filmmaker to accompany our small team in Honduras to support us in documenting our work, sharing the stories of young people who are defying the odds as they strive for change in their communities, and teaching photography and videography skills to a group of youth leaders so they can carry on this work.
Our vision is to create documentary-style photographs that illustrate the humanity and rawness of subjects without fetishizing the themes of violence and poverty that are so often focused upon in non-profit media. We believe in responsible, locally-led development, and we strive for the media we produce and share to reflect this ethos.
You will need your own camera equipment, but we will provide free accommodation during your stay. Working alongside our local educate. team will give you great insight into the organisation and the young people we work with, and you will get to experience Honduras at the community-level.
One of our youth programmes, called ‘Joven Comunica,’ aims to train youth people as local storytellers who are empowered to create their own narratives and stories about their lives and communities. Our idea is that you can also work with this group of youth to provide training in photography and filmmaking skills to this group of young leaders.
a few Requirements
You’d be perfect if you…
- Are 21 years or older
- Can communicate in spanish
- Have demonstrable experience in photography and/or filmmaking
- Have a dedicated interest in telling stories about community development, education, and youth empowerment.
- Have some experience working with young people
- Have a strong sense of integrity and personal ethics
- Proactive, can-do attitude, open to learning from others, and ability to work as part of a young, dynamic and diverse team.
We require volunteers to provide proof of travel and medical insurance (volunteers must arrange this themselves), and a criminal record check. All volunteers must also be willing to sign and abide by our Code of Conduct and Child Safeguarding Policy.
WHERE are we BASED?
The town where we are based is called Trinidad, it’s the center of a municipality of the same name, in the department of Santa Barbara. It’s a beautiful, mountainous area, with a local economy mostly based on agriculture (primarily corn, beans and coffee) and shoemaking. There’s great coffee, and lots of good street food! You will be based at the educate. Youth Center where we run activities with children and youth from across Trinidad and surrounding municipalities. We also have a network of schools where we have supported libraries in the surrounding villages.
Trinidad is also well connected to the beautiful city of Santa Barbara (40 mins by bus), the bustling industrial capital of San Pedro Sula (1.5 hours by bus), and the stunning Lago Yojoa lake where you can hike, kayak and swim!
How to Apply
If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you!
To apply, please send your CV and a short motivation letter to our email address, educate.ngo@gmail.com.
educate. 