Written by: Patricia Heavey

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Written by: Patricia Heavey

Title: Sustainable Travel Facilitator 

Role: Project & Event Coordinator 

Duration: To June 2020, with a 6 month probationary period. 

The position available is for an independent contractor. The successful candidate will work as part of the Smarter Travel programme which is delivered by Green Workplaces for a national authority. The Smarter Travel programme works with large workplaces and third level campuses promoting sustainable modes of transport, i.e. walking, cycling, public transport and carpooling. The link between active travel and health/wellbeing is a motivating factor for many workplace and campus partners.

Focus of work will be in the following areas: 

• Workplace & Campus Travel Plans (experience an advantage) 
• Event coordinator (5+ years’ experience required) 
• Project coordination (5+ years’ experience required) 
• Client Relationship Management (5+ years’ experience required) 

Requirements: 

• Outgoing person with strong inter-personal skills - ability to communicate with working professionals and third level students 
• Strong attention to detail and ability to multi-task 
• Strong organisational skills and ability to hit the ground running 
• Strong analytical skills – ability to analyse data and present comprehensive results and reports 
• Ability to take direction and work as a team player 
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Powerpoint, Word, Excel) 
• An interest in active commuting, sustainable transport and development is desirable. 

An undergraduate degree in a related field is desirable. 

This is a full time role and the successful candidate will be located at offices in the Harcourt St. area in Dublin. There is no on-site parking available at the office location nor will parking be provided. Travel within Ireland will be required approximately 20% of the time. The candidate must have a full clean driver’s license and access to a vehicle. Applications accepted by close of business on February 18th . Interested candidates should email a copy of their CV to info@greenworkplaces.ie

Written by: Patricia Heavey

Have you recently graduated from a health promotion course that is accredited by IUHPE?

Did you know you are automatically eligible for registration as an IUHPE Registered Health Promotion Practitioner?

In addition, the AHPI have waived the application fee for such graduates until 1^st January 2019 (current application fees are €25 for AHPI members and €30 for other applicants). If your application is approved (you just need to submit a copy of your parchment), you will be asked to pay the registration fee which is valid for 3 years. The registration fee is €75 for AHPI members and €100 for all other applicants. Click here to find out more.

Written by: Patricia Heavey

Volunteering in Uganda

 

Dr Trish Heavey (Chair of the AHPI) describes her recent volunteering experience in Uganda with the charity Nurture Africa

 

  

Nurture Africa was founded by Irishman Brian Iredale and exists to nurture the mental, physical and emotional growth and well being of Ugandan HIV/AIDS infected and affected orphans and vulnerable children, as well as their HIV+ parents/guardians. The charity has a strong volunteering element and this year Health Science with Nutrition students from Athlone Institute of Technology along with myself as lecturer were invited to be part of this programme. Nurture Africa recognises the importance of diet and nutrition and prior to visiting Uganda and before we set off we worked together to design and develop suitable educational programmes and workshops. We had some groundwork done and in July we headed off to Nansana (outside the capitial, Kampala) for a 3 week adventure!

Nutrition education programmes were developed and tailored for different groups. The workshops were interactive and involved development of skills (such as designing healthy meals, preparation and cooking of healthy meals). These workshops were targeted for the following groups:

• School children
• Pregnant and lactating women
• Mothers living with HIV
• HIV patients
• Youth programmes training young people to work in the hospitality industry 

Nutrition plays a vital role in health and wellbeing and education and access to food is essential throughout the lifespan. For mothers it is important to know and practice good habits: by eating well themselves, breastfeeding exclusively up to six months, and then providing nourishing complementary food while continuing to breastfeed. It is important to ensure that children develop properly both mentally and physically. School children are at an important stage for forming good dietary habits, and it is important that they eat and enjoy a variety of foods and to avoid too many sweets and sugary drinks and foods high in salt. Like Ireland, the lure of fizzy drinks is becoming a big problem! People living with HIV and AIDS benefit from understanding that a good diet helps build resistance to infection. It was fantastic for us to be part of these projects and it was also a hugely beneficial experience for us to learn all about the local produce and crops grown in the region, their nutritional benefits and how they can be used in the diet.
In addition,we were also involved in nutritional assessment programmes- measuring dietary intake in children as well as clinical measurements. This helped Nurture Africa assess the success of various feeding programmes already in place as well as identify those schools where future programmes and education are required. 

The Health Science with Nutrition students also were provided with the opportunity to

• Prepare and implement library learning in schools. The students prepared activities (reading and games) that they delivered in local schools
• Assist with sanitary pad workshops. This was a programme whereby young teenagers at school are trained to make re-usable sanitary pads (presently many young women can miss up to a week at school each month due to lack of suitable resources). All of our students were trained in the making of the pads and they were then responsible for teaching teenagers at school.
• Conduct home visits to understand the most common or priority medical needs facing the community
• Learn about sustainable social development programmes such as the community workshop which supports early school leavers by retraining in programmes such as hospitality, woodwork, sewing and social skills.

The experience was both humbling and inspiring and it was an amazing opportunity for the students (and lecturer!). It was a privilege to be welcomed into these communities and be part of a two-way process where we imparted some knowledge and skills but gained so much more from working with these inspirational and wonderful people.