Counsellor – Samburu

Organizational Profile

Fondazione L’Albero della Vita – The Tree of Life Kenya is an organization registered in Kenya as a Trust with the aim of ensuring the wellbeing, protection and promotion of the rights of children and their families and encouraging community development.

The Tree of Life envisions a world without poverty where children can enjoy their rights; grow up in a safe environment, protected from all kinds of violence and abuse, with access to equal opportunities. The organization has been working in Kenya since 2011, focusing on Children’s rights and protection.

In Samburu County, the Tree of Life has been implementing activities to strengthen the education and protection of girls, including the prevention of harmful practices such FGM and early marriages as well as the support of a network of Primary schools in remote areas.

The Tree of Life intervention in Samburu has also been focusing on Emergency and Development programs, through the perspective of building resilience and climate-change adaptation, working on Food and Nutrition Security, NFIs distribution and WASH to strengthen the resilience of pastoral communities.

The project

The Tree of Life is coordinating a project in Samburu County aimed at contributing to the protection of children living in the Suguta – Maralal area, through the improvement of the services provided by the Consolata Suguta Primary School. The project is located in a strategic area of the County, a few kilometers from Maralal, which is the headquarters of Samburu County.

The objective of the project is to improve the Educational, nutritional and Protection services offered by the Consolata Suguta Primary School to benefit vulnerable children in Samburu.

Job Title:** Counsellor

Supervisor: Protection & GBV expert; project’s supervisor

Duty station:** Suguta Marmar, Samburu County; main duty station will be specifically at Consolata Suguta Primary School, with some activities carried out in Maralal and home visits in the territory.

Starting date:** 22^nd January 2022

Duration of the assignment:** 12 months, with 3 months’ probation

Deadline for application: 14th January 2022

Role and Responsibilities:

· Coordinate and implement the Child Protection – PSS component of the project, in accordance with agreed objectives and indicators, in order to meet the project objectives within the budget and the allocated period.

· Develop an annual detailed work plan for the project component for which he or she is responsible with support from the line manager; review this plan each month.

· Develop and implement an appropriate and effective PSS strategy for the project, including proactive planning for a responsible exit.

· Development of a training plan, in modules, on Psychosocial Support and management of cases of GBV victims.

· Delivery of the training plan and the training sessions to the school staff (trainer).

· Provision of adequate and individualized psychosocial support to girls hosted in a centre located within the primary school, girls at risk and/or victims of GBV. Implement the Psychosocial activities according to the work plan in line with donor and Tree of Life requirements, including proposing any necessary changes.

· Provision of support to the school’s teaching staff in identifying other cases at risk of GBV in the school and in providing an ongoing basic PSS service.

· Identification / development of information material for psychosocial support and training activities.

· Organization and participation to family home visits.

· Support to the organization of awareness campaigns on the Rights of the Child and Education.

· Participation to relevant and sectorial coordination tables/working groups in Samburu and visibility activities; networking with key stakeholders of the sector in the area, supporting the creation of linkages and partnerships with government and private entities and services.

· Compile and aggregate narrative and quantitative reports, in line with donor’s guidelines and requirements.

· Support to the collection of visibility and information materials about the project.

· Support the development of M&E tools aimed at monitoring, evaluating the project and assessing its impact.

· Properly document the achievements and lessons of the project activities and support the dissemination to partners and stakeholders.

· Collect receipts, administrative documents with the support of the Tree of Life Finance office, ensuring that all expenses are properly documented and done according to the available budget.

· Work as a team player providing relevant information and assistance to colleagues and ensuring project components for which she or he is responsible are interlinked.

· Ensures that gender considerations are taken into account at all stages of the project cycle from design through implementation to evaluation.

· Any other duty as required by the line manager commensurate with the post and relevant to the achievement of Project objectives.

Minimum requirements

Knowledge and skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Counselling psychology or any other relevant field of study with specialization in counselling.

· Knowledge and experience of (primary) mental health care principles and management.

• Strong ability to work with partners using effective interpersonal and communication skills and to respectfully interact with people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
• Strong analytical skills, report writing, administration, monitoring and evaluation.
• Strong presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills.
• Solid organizational/time and project management skills as well as proactive, resourceful and results-oriented.

· Computer skills (Microsoft office word, excel, etc.)

· Data handling skill

· Excellent spoken and written English and knowledge of the Samburu language will be an added advantage

Other Skills Required

· Honesty and strong ethics are required in order to be successful in this position

· Ability to work independently and as part of a team

· Demonstrated capacity and willingness to learn – open to learning new ways of doing things

· Firm belief in teamwork, gender equality, participatory approach and sustainable development

Experience:

· A minimum of 3 years in the psychosocial field and coordination preferably in the NGOs sector

· Ability and willingness to manage project implementation

· Actual grassroots experience, working with communities and CSOs

· Good numerical, report writing and administration skills.

· Experience in the monitoring of implementation and evaluation of psychosocial programmes.

Confidentiality

Employees must sign a child Safeguarding Policy and a confidentiality agreement, and may not share organizational materials without the express written permission from a supervisor; and

Respect – the Tree of Life aims to always show respect and appreciation for team members, Partners and all.

Working schedule

Working hours will be agreed upon. However, flexibility will be required to suit the project’s needs.

Budget and salary

Available budget for this position is between 50,000 and 100,000 Kshs. all-inclusive, depending on the work experience.