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Information for New Volunteers
Overview of Pre-Service Training
The overall goal of Mauritania's Pre-Service Training (PST) program is to provide you with the necessary language, technical, core (cross culture and community development), and personal health skills to effectively work and live as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania.
Training Philosophy
Peace Corps Mauritania's training philosophy emphasizes active, participatory learning. The training program stresses practical, experiential methods using the resources of the training community and the knowledge and experiences of trainees, trainers, and counterparts. Critical thinking, problem-solving, focused observations and hands-on practice are emphasized and encouraged. You will be expected to become progressively more independent and to take charge of your own learning. Collaboration, open communication and a two-way feedback system are essential components for a successful program. PST is also a time to review your decision to join the Peace Corps for two years.Last year, Peace Corps Mauritania implemented a community-based training approach. This means that you will be placed in communities that resemble your final Volunteer site assignments. You will live in these communities with up to three other trainees and a facilitator. The facilitator will be available for structured language classes, technical fieldwork and cross-cultural learning. Other staff (technical, health, and cross culture coordinators) will visit your community from time to time and you will meet with other trainees in your sector and with the entire training group at the training center at regularly scheduled intervals.
We have successfully used this training approach and have seen the value of experiencing the realities of Mauritanian living and working while still in training. Both staff and Volunteers believe that this approach helps to better prepare you for your life as a Volunteer.
Technical Training
The technical component of training gives the Trainee skills and resources needed to identify, design, and implement Agroforestry, Community Health & Water/ Sanitation, Environmental Education, Education, and Small Enterprise Development projects that will improve basic food production, water supply, health, and income-generation.
Language Training
Since the ability to communicate is fundamental to any transfer of skills, language training represents the bulk of time spent in Pre-Service Training. Each Trainee receives instruction in French and/or one of the Mauritanian languages. Average class size is four Trainees; instruction is primarily oral. The language program is very intense with up to four hours of instruction per day. During PST, there is a French and local language immersion policy that requires trainees and staff to speak a minimal amount of English at the training center. To be sworn in as a Volunteer, each Trainee must attain a level of intermediate-mid in the Oral Proficiency Interview ACTFL test. All language classes are taught in French.
Core Curriculum Training
The goal of Core Curriculum is to prepare the Trainees to act as effective catalysts for village-based social action and community development in a culturally appropriate way. With this goal and its inherent participatory nature firmly in mind, core training seeks also to increase Trainees' understanding of Mauritania and Mauritanians by enabling Trainees to gather information about the culture, attitudes and beliefs, geography, history and government. It is intended to help Trainees expand essential skills that they already have so that they may be better able to adapt to Volunteer life. The process will include trainee presentations, role plays, discussions, field trips and practical hands-on activities in conjunction with the language and technical training components. Most importantly, by living with a Mauritanian family in a community that resembles your ultimate placement, you will have an opportunity to draw on real-life examples for cross-cultural discussions. Cultural information is an important consideration in the presentation of all language and technical material.
Personal Health & Safety
Trainees will participate in a series of sessions on personal health and safety, geared to provide important information on health risks/issues and preventive measures. The goal of the health unit during PST is to inform Trainees adequately to protect and care for themselves. Realizing that 90% of "medical problems" result from and can be "treated" by social, environmental, and individual lifestyle factors has shifted emphasis away from medical care and medicine to the importance of people's own responsibility for their health. Personal responsibility for health care is not just desirable, but is absolutely essential. It is a significant part of one's total responsibility as a Peace Corps Volunteer. With this in mind, a holistic approach to informing trainees about good health is proposed.