Environmentalist Intern – The Philippines

World Team:

World Team is an interdenominational Christian mission agency with more than 350 workers sharing the Gospel in 28 countries. We place innovative teams among unreached peoples with the goal of seeing disciples brought into communities of faith that will multiply and impact the world for Jesus Christ.

Position Summary: 

The coastal communities in the Philippines are facing a bleak future.  Destructive fishing practices and other environmental factors have degraded the source of the people’s livelihood – the coral reef.  As the populations increase in these communities, the rate of destruction of the environment also accelerates.  Poverty will continue to get worse unless the people change the way they harvest the ocean for the livelihood of the families. 

While the degradation of the reefs continues, there is still hope to reverse the trend.  By engaging the communities through education and providing options for livelihoods that are not dependent on the coral reefs, the destruction can be stopped. 

The Environmentalist Intern will be a part of a church planting team using Creation Care as a platform to share the Gospel.  This position requires working with all ages but with a special emphasis is building close relationships and discipling College Students.

  • Check out our Facebook @reefsforlife (to get a picture of the work we are doing on land).
  • Check out our Instagram @reefsforlife (to get a picture of the work we are doing underwater).
  • Check out our website to learn about the technology we are using to restore Coral Reefs www.reeefsforlife.org

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate is:

  • Scuba Diving Certified
  • Available from 30 days to a 6-month assignment.
  • Mature Christian
  • Passionate about the Environment
  • Flexible (plans get changed day by day due to weather, water conditions, and meetings.  We partner with government organizations, and they don’t plan far in advance, but we do, so sometimes we have to toss our schedule out the window).
  • Ability to deal with a high level of ambiguity.  For some of our interns, they get frustrated because they can’t speak the language and don’t always know what is going on – little do they know is that sometimes we don’t know what is going on either 🙂  The language, even if you are fluent, is very non-specific, and it takes time and experience to know what is going on.
  • Able to live in a remote location with unstable internet and utilities.
  • Interest in learning Filipino culture
  • Independent/Adventurous

Accountability:

The Environmentalist Intern is directly accountable to Team Leader, Caramoan.

Responsibility:

Help maintain our eight coral restoration sites and nurseries.  (This requires at least two days a week/multiple dives each day).  There is a lot of work involved in maintaining the sites besides just diving – dive preparation (refilling scuba tanks, loading/unloading scuba gear), construction, cleaning pontoon boats, painting, electronics, etc. 

Attend at least one/two weekly Bible Study help organize icebreakers/games. 

Attend and help at all volunteer events (trash clean-ups, tree plantings, meetings, and educational events in local schools).  Most of our volunteers are college students – make an effort to get to know them and develop friendships.

Develop some friendships outside of the volunteer events where you can get to know a few volunteers on a deeper level and encourage them to attend a Bible Study and/or mentor them in making plans for their future. 

We will tailor your job description to fit your interests and passions.  These are all things that we need on our team:  construction experience, welding, experience working with solar power, electronics, photography, videography, social media/vlogs, grant writing, painting, small business experience, monitoring coral restoration sites, worship leader, event planning, teaching, preparing environmental curriculum and more. 

Anticipated Outcomes:

The Environmental Intern will be responsible for working toward the following:

  • Build strong relationships with the college-aged volunteers that will lead them to an interest in studying the Bible. 
  • Help us bring life back to damaged coral reefs and hope back to the communities that depend on them.   
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