Dear Future Peace Corps Zambia Volunteer,

If you are anything like I was about a year ago, you are frantically searching Peace Corps Zambia blogs in an attempt to see what this place is like and what you need to pack for your upcoming two-year adventure. I decided to put up this post to offer you some guidance, as I know how crazy the weeks leading up to fly-in can be. Below you will find a list of suggested items that I have found useful during my past year in country, as well as suggestions of what not to fret over buying or packing. This is by no means a complete list, and not every item may be important to you, but hopefully, it will give you some direction if you need it.

I also want to extend to you a big welcome to the Peace Corps Zambia Family! Peace Corps Zambia is an awesome placement. The land, people, and volunteer friends you make while here are amazing, and I hope you come to love this place as much as all us current volunteers have. Training is going to be tough and tiresome, but stick it out, because the other side is pretty great!

Safe travels, and we will see you in a few weeks!!!

Salley

P.S. If any of you current volunteers read this and have something to add, feel free to comment : )


Packing List:

-Speakers for your mp3 player (you can get some here, but the quality isn’t that great, and if you love your music, you will want to be able to listen to it while you do chores around the house or use it for dance parties with your village kids!)

-Extra set of earphones for your mp3 player (again, you can get some here, but the quality is crappy)

-Gatorade or other powdered drink packets

-Luggage locks for when traveling

-Combination padlock for your hut’s front door (great if you want to avoid the possibility of losing your key and getting locked out)

-Plastic mattress cover (queen size – great for when your roof leaks over your bed!)

-Fitted sheet (again, go with queen size – you can get these here, but they are expensive and not the finest quality – flat sheets can be found here no problem, and pc gives you a set when you get here)

-Headlamp (at least one, maybe 2) and handheld flashlight with lots of batteries!

-Camera (bring lots of memory cards and a few flash drives too – I have found that loading my pictures on them and mailing them home to have my mom post on my blog is so much simpler than me trying to load them using the slow and unreliable internet here at the Peace Corps house)

-Photos from home (aka “snaps” - great for hanging in your hut and also to show your host family and friends in the village)

-Gift for host family (calendars, a framed photo from training (bring a cheap frame from home), headlamps, etc)

-Short-wave radio

-Saddle-bag for bike (not absolutely necessary at first, but might be nice to have someone send you later if you run out of packing space)

-Enough shampoo/conditioner for about a week or so (this stuff will weigh your suitcase down if you try to bring too much, and you can get nice-smelling stuff here that works well)

-Zip-lock bags (the gallon size and “big bags” are great for storage and travel)

-If you knit, bring your needles (you can get yarn here, however, it is cheap quality)

-Face wash (if you have a favorite kind, bring it, cause you probably won’t find it here)

-Deodorant (you can get some deo/antiperspirant combos here, but they are expensive)

-Off-unscented bug spray

-Binoculars (i just went on safari, and having these made the tip so much better – you don’t have to spend a lot on them though)

-Box for electronics (I bought one at REI, it is small, padded box that is perfect for keeping your electronics safe when traveling, as expect to have you luggage squished and squeezed!)

-Laptop computer (this is, by no means absolutely necessary, however, with the growing number of volunteers and only one computer per PC house (which often crashes), it is nice to have – especially if you want to Skype home with family and friends – I bought a net book before coming here and it is cheap and small, so perfect for traveling)

-Duct tape (you will find so many uses for this stuff here)

-Nalgene bottles (2 are handy to have)

-Hand sanitizer (good for on the go – you can get it here, but it is really expensive)

-Medium-sized backpack

-Gum (you can get it here, but if you have you have a favorite type at home, it’s is nice to have)

-Rain gear (boots, umbrella, raincoat)

-Sunglasses

-List of your internet usernames and passwords (nice to have during training when your laptop is in storage and you go to internet cafes)

-List of addresses for writing postcards home

-Daily planner and journal

*packing suggestion: I packed all my toiletries in clear plastic "rubber maid" type box (it was about the size of two shoe boxes put together, and taped it up to prevent shampoo explosions while traveling to country. This worked really well, and after I settled into my house, I had an extra storage container as well.

Girl-specific items:

-Sleeveless shirts! (don’t listen to the manual – you are allowed to wear these here, and you will want to when it gets hot!)

-Knee-length stretchy skirts – the ones with the fold-over top are great, cause they are always comfy and fit well even if you gain or lose weight)

-Leggings (can be worn under skirts or chitenges when biking

-PJ pants (it will be chilly at night during training)

-Fleece jacket

-Solid colored t-shirts (buy tighter-fitting ones, because repeated hand-washing will stretch them out – these also are great to have to wear with chitenges

-Cute shirts / dresses (because you most likely will want to go out or look cute as some point during training)

-Make-up (if you wear it, bring it! You prob won’t want to wear it in the village, but at the PC house or for special occasions it is nice to have)

-Tampons (maybe bring a box or so to start with, but after that, rely on PC to provide these for you)

-Nail polish, Ped-Egg, and foot cream (these have been one of my all-time favorite care package items - your feet will take a beating here)

Other clothing advice:

-Boys: bring some pants a few inches smaller than what you ordinarily wear (and a belt!), especially if you are a little fluffier in the middle, you will lose weight

-Girls: bring stretchy clothes with elastic waist-bands, you might gain weight (I know, it’s not fair)

-Choco or Teva sandals (as a peace corps volunteer, you are eligible for awesome discounts at these companies – while these aren’t the most fashion forward footwear, it is good to have a pair for long bike rides, hikes and other adventures)

-Closed-toe shoes (for me, these were not necessary, I think I have worn mine once, however, others wear theirs often)

-2 pairs of jeans (one for the village and one for wearing in town)


Don’ts:

-Don’t worry about a fancy phone (you can get an internet phone here for pretty cheap)

-Don’t bring water purification tablets or fancy water purification devices (You can get chlorine here and PC provides you with a water filter)

-Don’t worry about trying to find Zambia-specific adaptors for your electronics, you can get those here

-Don’t bring fancy solar chargers (you may end up in an area that has a school/clinic that has power or solar panels, and you can charge your phone there)

-Don’t spent tons of money on camping equipment (some people didn’t even bring a tent and shared with other volunteers)

-Don’t spent a ton of money on new clothes at REI or similar stores (especially if you don’t already wear that type of clothing, cause you prob won’t want to wear it once here)

-Don’t bring towels (chitenges work great for this purpose, and PC will give you one as soon as you get to country)