Type: 4-month Fellowship to start in September 2022 with possibility of extension
Experience: Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience with data-focused research preferable
Division: Global Health and Rural Development (non-profit sector)
Positions Available: 1

This is a full-time, unpaid fellowship, with room and board and travel provided.

About Oda Foundation

Co-founded by a native of the village where we are based, Oda Foundation builds local leadership and supports health and education, for those who need it most. Since 2013, we have taken a long-term approach to building relationships, hiring a 95% local, Nepali team. Oda Foundation in located in Nepal’s Kalikot District, a remote patchwork of villages. Rigorous topography, impacts of Nepal’s civil war, and meagre economic opportunity make the Karnali Zone one of the most impoverished and forgotten regions in all of Nepal, said by UNICEF to be an area enduring a “Silent Emergency.” The mountainous region is accessible by only one road, with many villages like Oda only accessible via hours on foot. Our communities struggle with malnutrition and extreme poverty, and they have difficulty accessing professional health care and education. Gender and caste discrimination block women’s access to economic opportunity, education, and equal healthcare.

Since 2013, we have expanded our health services to a full hospital and clinic, including out-patient services, lab testing, emergency care, pharmacy, birthing and women’s health care, and public health initiatives. We have supported upwards of 80,000 patient visits, with more each day. Moving forward, our goal is to integrate our health system within the government to create a more sustainable health care infrastructure.

About the Menstrual Health Fellowship (responsibilities and requirements )

Oda Foundation's Menstrual Health Fellow will work almost exclusively on supporting our new holistic programme designed to reduce the harms of chhuapadi and poor menstrual hygiene management, commonly found within Kalikot. 72% of menstruating women and girls in our community continue to practice chhauapdi. The project aims to gather information about the causes and effects of chhauapdi and develop initiatives to be implemented once there is a detailed understanding of the community needs.

The fellow will be responsible for assisting the programme director with running training workshops, focus groups, gathering research data and translation of conversations. Additionally, the Menstrual Health Fellow will engage in conversations around healthcare and organization-wide policies, procedures, and initiatives, giving this role a great degree of exposure into Oda’s higher-level decision making process.

It is a strength of the Oda Foundation Fellowship program that Fellows understand the integrative nature of Oda’s work and their role within it. The Menstrual Health Fellow is strongly encouraged to pursue interests outside of healthcare that may align with ongoing Oda Foundation programming. In previous cohorts, Fellows have also supported social media management, media content generation, report and grant writing support, quarterly board meeting participation, strategic partnership generation, and more!

Responsibilities :

• Health research, data, and analysis: assisting the women's health Programme Director with research, data and analysis.
• Translation: Supporting the translation of research gathered and during the process of running focus groups and interviews.
• Needs assessment: assessing the needs of the health department and finding supporting the development of solutions to fill those gaps
• Trainings and development: Supporting the training of local women to become leaders of menstrual health within their community. Acting as a mentor and guide to these women will be crucial.
• Operations: assisting the Programme director with some of the operations of the project.

Required Qulaifications & Experience :

• Strong written and spoken English language and Nepali
• University degree in one of the following or a related field: Health, Public Health, International Development, Social
• Work, Anthropology; we are also open to other degrees or background that supports the experiences in a Public Health Fellowship!
• A strong desire to work on sustainable community development approaches
• A strong interest in developing the health sector within Nepal particularly within women's health initiatives.
• Strong ability to be self-driven and coordinate your own projects
• Enthusiasm and a connection with Oda values as listed below

Desired Qualifiocation & Experience :

• Experience designing and/or implementing monitoring and evaluation methods
• 1-2 years of professional experience
• Experience living in a rural community (preference given to experience living in a rural community in a developing country)

Additional, once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you will gain:

• Expand your knowledge of rural development through first hand experience
• Collaborate on research projects
• Have the autonomy to decide where you make impact
• Explore your passions within the field of rural community development
• Work with an energetic and incredibly inspiring team of Nepali and International professionals

What previous fellows went on to achieve:

• Admission into top graduate programs at Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Institute of Development Studies, and more
• Promotion to full-time work with the Oda Foundation
• Impactful careers in arts, health, policy, and education sectors

Care and Compassion

• We will demonstrate our compassion and caring through our action and words
• We will take time to ensure each person feels listened to, secure, understood and is treated compassionately
• We will be approachable and contribute to creating a calm and friendly atmosphere
• We will provide a safe and caring setting for patients and staff, and an efficient, effective experience
• We will meet people's needs for information and involvement
• We will be considerate, calm and proactive in solving problems
• We will not be aggressive or passive aggressive to anyone

Respect, Dignity & Justice :

• We will demonstrate respect for all staff through our words and actions
• We will all follow Oda rules, policies and procedures
• We will accept fair and equitable punishment for all
• We will be polite and courteous in our communications and actions
• We will demonstrate respect for dignity, choice, privacy and confidentiality
• We will recognize and value uniqueness, diversity and different cultures
• We will be sincere, honest and constructive in giving, and open to receiving, feedback
• We will maintain a professional attitude and appearance.

Effectiveness :

• We will demonstrate a commitment to doing our best
• We will be proactive in problem solving and above all, our work commitments.
• We will be responsible and reflect on our actions
• We will be accountable for our actions
• We will focus on our work and practice time management by meeting all proposed deadlines.
• We will encourage and explore ideas for improvement, innovation and creativity.
• We will seek out opportunities to enhance our skills and expertise
• We will work together to achieve high quality services
• We will use our knowledge and enthusiasm to implement positive change and overcome challenges

Teamwork & Communication

• We will understand and value each other's role and contribution
• We will be fair, thoughtful, welcoming and kind to colleagues, fellows and guests.
• We will communicate with each other and express our successes and our concerns.
• We will offer support and encouragement to others
• We will maximize each other's potential and contribution through shared learning and development
• We will recognize, share and celebrate our successes, big and small
• We will practice coordination and collaboration interdepartmentally
• We will have a positive outlook and motivation
• We will demonstrate commitment to the Oda foundation, patients, staff and our guests.

Honesty and Responsibility

• We will build trust by displaying transparency and doing what we say we will do
• We will commit to doing what is right
• We will welcome feedback as a means of informing improvements
• We will use our resources and each other's time efficiently and wisely
• We will maintain and enhance public confidence in our service
• We will be a positive role model