Maternal and Child Health Educator

Health facilities and clinics across rural Rwanda are looking to strengthen maternal, newborn, and child health services.

Rwanda has made remarkable progress in strengthening its health system, yet maternal and child health challenges remain. According to the 2019–2020 Demographic Health Survey, over one-third of children under the age of five are stunted. This widespread stunting stems from interconnected socio-economic, health, environmental, and behavioral factors, including insufficient diets, limited household food production, and poor water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions. The Government of Rwanda has prioritized improving child health and training more than 60,000 community health workers on child nutrition indicators, methods to improve antenatal care attendance, and delivering related health education. External support is essential because Rwanda currently lacks enough trained nutrition and public‑health personnel to carry out large‑scale capacity‑building, especially in rural areas where resources, technical skills, and specialized staffing are limited.

As a Maternal and Child Health Educator, you will work alongside community health workers and health clinic staff to promote healthy practices related to nutrition, hygiene, disease prevention, and child development. Through community education and partnership, you will help families build knowledge and skills to prevent childhood illness, improving health outcomes for mothers and children.

Master of Public Health degree or Master of Science degree in Public Health.
OR
Certified physician assistant or public health nurse with expressed interest in public/community health.
OR
Bachelor's degree in nutrition, health, or nursing.

Volunteers live in modest homes with varying access to electricity and running water. Volunteers will serve in rural communities across Rwanda’s four provinces: Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern. Volunteers will travel on foot, by bicycle, or public transportation to reach the assigned worksite.

Experience working in a clinical or low-resource setting and within a health-related field (e.g., nutrition, hygiene, malaria, reproductive health).

Ability to develop and deliver training as well as create supportive health education materials.

Facilitate group sessions and home visits that promote healthy pregnancies, safe deliveries, and optimal early childhood development.
Work with families to strengthen nutrition, permaculture gardening, and small-animal husbandry.
Support health workers in monitoring, recording, and interpreting child growth indicators.
Educate families on safe water, hygiene, sanitation, and handwashing practices.
Promote prevention, early recognition, and timely treatment of common childhood illnesses.
Engage fathers and family members in supporting maternal and child health throughout the First 1,000 Days.
Facilitate trainings for community health workers and health providers on First 1,000 Days interventions.
Build community health workers’ skills in adult learning, communication, and basic health reporting.



You may also work on additional projects that meet the community’s interests and priorities, such as supporting school health clubs or facilitating a nutrition-focused cooking demonstration for community groups.

As a Maternal and Child Health Educator, you will be trained on key programmatic interventions, monitoring and reporting tools and indicators, as well as technical skills to strengthen the capacity of health service providers. Peace Corps/Rwanda will teach you Kinyarwanda to help you comfortably live in and connect with the community. You will also receive language resources and learn the Rwandan culture to navigate the community.



After 10 weeks of training, you will move to a rural community where you will collaborate with the staff at a community health center to assess the health needs and develop long-term solutions.