With a minimum stay of one year and the possibility to intern for two years or more, the Africa Volunteer Program is a great way to gain experience in a rapidly expanding organization while working to empower communities across
Africa. Tostan
encourages applicants, 18 years and older, from anywhere in the world, to apply. College/university students, recent graduates, Master's, and Ph.D. candidates are especially welcome. Place
ments are full-time, unpaid, and competitive.
Placements
We are currently placing volunteers in
Senegal,
Mali,
The Gambia,
Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau,
and
Djibouti.
View our
Current Openings
page
to look at available volunteer position descriptions.
Start Dates
Tostan asks volunteer applicants to respect our desire to welcome and orient new volunteers together, at certain times throughout the year.
For this upcoming year, 2012, we plan to welcome new volunteers in:

June 2012
Deadline to Apply: February 1, 2012
September 2012
Deadline to Apply: June 1, 2012
January 2013
Deadline to Apply: October 1, 2012
*Applications received after the deadline will not be considered
Application Process
1)
Start by reading our
Costs & Considerations document
.
2)
You can then complete and submit our
Africa Volunteer Program Application Form
.
As the form must be completed in one sitting, we suggest that you first write your responses in a Word document, and then cut and paste when you are ready to submit.
After submitting the form, you should see a confirmation message. If you don't, please contact us.
3)
Once submitted it, send the following materials to the Volunteer Coordinator
(
volunteerafrica@tostan.org
):
-
Letter of motivation
-
Most current CV or r
é
sumé
-
Short writing sample(s): 1-3 pages, non-fiction, on a development-related or Africa-related subject of your choice, possibly from past coursework or a published article. Writing samples must be submitted in French and in English.
4)
Once the Volunteer Coordinator has received all of your materials, she will confirm reception of your completed volunteer application.
5) Finally, the Volunteer Coordinator will contact promising candidates with an invitation to interview, approximately two weeks after the application deadline. Final decisions are sent by e-mail two months before the start date.
**Attention: Due to national law, Senegalese applicants must apply for an internship through our human resources department rather than through the volunteer program. If you are Senegalese and wish to volunteer with tostan, please submit a CV and a letter of motivation, either by email to rh@tostan.org or by dropping it off directly at Tostan's office in Dakar. All other applicants may submit their applications directly through the volunteer program, as described above.
More Questions?
For questions about Tostan's Africa Volunteer Program,
consult our new FAQ page
! For any other information that is not answered here or in the documents available on this site, please email
volunteerafrica@tostan.org
.
Please note that we can only discuss placement opportunities with those who have already submitted an application.