Best job ads

Have you heard of this famous newspaper advertisement?

"Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success."

It is reputed to be the job ad placed by either Scott or Shackleton in their race to be the first at the South Pole. While researchers have not been able to locate the ad in any newspapers of the time, Shackleton's letter to the Times in 1913 along similar lines netted 5,000 responses!

Well the School of St Jude is currently advertising several positions: Teacher Trainer, Art Teacher and Music Teacher. They are much like the apocryphal 'hazardous journey' ad. Here is how they go....



POSITION COMMENCING IN JANUARY 2007 FOR TWELVE MONTHS (MIN)
SALARY – approx equivalent to $US 300

We're looking for a volunteer who is a qualified and experienced teacher or head teacher to help set up and run an effective teacher assessment scheme. This will be a continual project, with the aim of helping our Tanzanian staff improve their teaching methods and abilities. You will be required to sit in on teacher’s classes, look at ways to enhance their teaching and then helping them put a pro-active and workable plan in place. The assessment will be ongoing to ensure maximum improvement.

The main qualifications and qualities needed are:-

• 10 years+ teaching experience (preferable with head teacher or head of department experience)
• A love of working with children as well as adults
• Preferably some experience in teaching/training adults
• A willingness to help in a school that is educating the poorest children in Tanzania, and thereby helping to reverse the downward spiraling poverty cycle in Africa.
• Patience and Tolerance: The candidate will be living and working at the school with other volunteer staff from various cultures and with a variety of personalities. In Tanzania, we frequently have no power or water. There is dust, dirt and disease everywhere, so it can be very challenging to live here. Hence, the person needs to be able to cope with these conditions in a cheerful way.
• A sense of humor helps!
• As a bonus, though it is also very rewarding to be a part of one of the most visionary projects in East Africa today.

** A US$500 payment is required from all volunteers to pay for upkeep of volunteer accommodation, cleaners and admin costs.

With an additional 170 students each year, the school needs extra teachers every year. The teaching staff are a combination of local teachers and volunteers from other countries. As well as teaching the children, the school aims for a high standard of teaching excellence and works hard at capacity building for locally trained teachers.

In 2006, there were around 150 staff at The School of St Jude. Teachers, cooks, bus drivers, cleaners, groundsmen, builders and guards all work together to ensure that as many students as possible are given a chance of a great and free education.