For Future Volunteers...

I’m sitting at the provincial house in Chipata again, waiting for meds to come up from Lusaka so I have some time and some parasites to kill. I’ve been thinking about the new RED intake coming in June a lot since I found out that I will be one of their trainers through their PST. It’s been almost exactly a year now since my intake completed training and swore in as PCVs and I’m realizing how far I’ve actually come. I was going a bit crazy in the process of preparing myself to leave my life for the unknown that is Peace Corps service in a country that nobody has even heard of. No offense, Zambia. I’m hoping that I can help the new intake by writing a bit about my experience and what to expect when you can’t quite fathom the life you signed yourself up for. I wish I’d done a few things very differently.

It was my first time leaving the country and I literally didn’t sleep the whole week before coming. I can’t even describe the emotions I went through during those last few weeks in the states but I guess excited, anxious, hopeful and terrified could sum it up. Watching youtube videos of PCVs in Zambia really helped with the sleepless nights. I think I’ll make one eventually. But I made it through the long, extended goodbyes, the packing (I seriously did an awful job, more on that later) and I watched my dad drive away from the hotel in Philadelphia where staging is held. His last advice to me was to pick one person each day and make them the center of my world, that’s how I could make a difference. I told him to buy a bar. And then I was alone. I think about that moment a lot, it’s one of those memories I’ll probably never forget. If you’re in the new intake, you should get ready for a lot of those.

Meeting the other volunteers in my intake was surreal. We had a facebook group to bond us somewhat beforehand but it was still an experience meeting 35 other young Americans with similar ideals but a world of difference between each of us. In staging there is, of course, last minute paperwork but the sessions mostly involve our feelings and expectations. Hopes, dreams, anxieties, we covered it all. We had 1 night to spend in Philly with our bus to JFK departing at some ungodly hour. Obviously sleep wasn’t an option so we went out in groups to have dinner, drink beers and best of all, sing karaoke. It was a tremendous stress reliever and I highly recommend it. You will never get more drinks paid for than if you talk about leaving for 2 years to serve in Africa and the closer you get to departure, the more true that is. I think my group got an entire bottle of Patron paid for by the end of the night. Honestly, I don’t know why Philadelphians get such a bad rep.

 Here's some of my group on our last night in America.

After our “last” big blowout we caught the bus up to New York, got there quite a bit early and had to sit in the lobby for hours. Some people slept on the floor, some played cards or just talked. I was feeling a strange disconnect from everyone. Like, I knew we were all getting into the same thing and we’d be spending all this time together, yet I was still wrapped up in my own head. It’s a strange thing, saying goodbye to the life you know where you have great friends and family that know everything about you, accept you, where you can predict what’ll happen on any given day… and then leaving it for a life you know nothing about. I felt like everyone else was way more prepared. I was nervous that I wasn’t going to fit in or that I wouldn’t make it through training or that Zambia would be awful. It’s a lot to take in and looking back, I wish I’d just taken more time to prepare myself, both mentally and in the literal sense. I didn’t even know what I had packed (the night before) in my gigantic bag that I couldn’t manage to carry. Even my carry-on bags were awkward. I was off to a poor start. Here’s a good tip for when you pack, think about how you’re going to carry all of your baggage. I had to move mine one by one and I wish my bigger checked bag had wheels. A lot of people had a hiking pack as their carry on and a small backpack worn on the front as their 2^nd carry-on. I was jealous of those people. As an obsessively organized person, I was lost, and I had only myself to blame. But hey, it was a crazy time and we all deal in different ways. This is what all of my baggage amounted to. Imagine lugging all of that around the hotel, airport, etc...

 

I found a great quote not long ago that I chalked up on my porch. “Take it all in, it’s as big as it seems. Count all your blessings, remember your dreams.” I look at it now as a way to remind myself of how huge what I’m doing is when I get lost in the mundane day-to-day of it all but thinking about it then would’ve been a great way to calm myself down through the first hours and days of my new life.

So, we finally got on the flight. I took Tylenol PM and passed out almost the entire time, with meals arriving every time I came to. South African Airline serves really good food. This was the first of many, many meals that was provided for us. Future volunteers, be aware that you will have way too much to eat for the next 3 months and very little time to burn it off. As a general rule, girls gain a good bit of weight during this time and then even more during community entry. Good luck!

We had to steer ourselves through the airport as a very large group. I was one of four group leaders that helped to count heads and try to make things run smoothly. Happily, we all made it through Johannesburg, nothing was stolen, and we finally arrived in Zambia. We were met by a lady on the Peace Corps staff, she greeted us by taking some of our important documents and showing us through the small lobby to where a line of cruisers were waiting to take us and all of our things to the hotel.

We stayed at The Barn Motel and future volunteers, you probably will too. It’s a nice place, much nicer than any of us expected. We were immediately brought into a conference room for a medical session. It was awful. The last thing you want to do at that point is sit and hear about serious things. But you have to. You have sessions the next day too but it wasn’t all bad. The diversity panel was my favorite, where a group of volunteers came to talk about how they cope with their own diversity issues in Zambia. When a village requests a volunteer from the American Peace Corps, they expect their volunteer to be a young, white, stereotypical American. As you may know, not all of us fit that description. You’ll also meet the volunteer leader from each province who will talk about what you can expect from the 6 provinces that Peace Corps serves in. The PCVLs offered to take $100 from each of us that wanted a standard phone, a SIM card and talk time and bring them back from town. The overwhelming majority of my group regretted getting this phone, it’s crap and you can get good phones for just over $100. Most of the intake bought new phones within the next month but I couldn’t rationalize the waste of money. It’s the reason I’m one of the only volunteers without internet in my village. I remember how much I wanted to call home, to let them know I was ok and update them on what was happening but I recommend waiting until you go into Lusaka to get your phone. You’ll go after maybe 2 days in country to get supplies for your first site visit. The cruisers will come to take you to a really nice mall with a grocery store inside, this place literally has everything you could possibly want. And great food. And a movie theater. There are so many possibilities!

I think there are only 2 nights at The Barn until the first site visit, where you’ll go in groups of 4 to a village where a volunteer is currently serving. They’ll give you a list of groceries to buy from Lusaka that you’ll cook together during your stay. Site visits are all about the meals. You can cook just about anything on a brazier, including cakes and bread. It’s amazing. You’ll be given an allowance to spend and will probably use most of it. Honestly, you don’t get paid a lot during training but fortunately there is not much you’ll need to buy. Your site visits will be with volunteers from my intake so you can talk all about the RED project with some great people. Keep in mind that this will be the only time for the next few months that you have all day to do whatever you like, so enjoy it! And enjoy your time at The Barn. Each intake is unique but as for my own, a lot of us took to the bar that is within the grounds of the motel. There will probably be some volunteers there waiting to meet you, we’re all very excited to meet new people, get some fresh clean faces to look at and welcome you into the greatest extended family you will ever be a part of. I thought I was leaving my social life behind me in America but I was very, very wrong. Also, about the beer… if you keep your expectations really low, it probably won’t be as bad as you thought.

After your site visit they’ll take you back to The Barn for another night where you find out what language you’ll learn, join the group you’ll be learning with and practice some phrases to greet your homestay families. The majority of you will learn “muli shani” or, “how are you?” in Bemba. The lucky ones will learn “muli bwanji” and know from that day on that you will be a part of Eastern Province, the biggest and best province of all. You’ll spend entirely too much time with the people in your language group and you will learn to love them after you get to know them far too well. The trainers are all pretty great and you will make it through, just prepare yourself for some intense and boring language, technical, medical, safety/security and anything-else-that-you-can-possibly-think-of sessions. Your first 3 months are packed with them. Including half days on Saturdays. Oh, and just so you know, somebody in all of the homestay families know English at least fairly well. My mama played a funny joke on me my first night, it was awkward for me and really funny for her. Zambians are hilarious like that.

You’ll get your own house through training, your own bathing structure and your own poop hole, known as the chimbudzi. Your leg muscles will get strong very quickly. This is what the inside of my hut looked like during training. You can lock up the things you brought that you don’t want in your small, temporary house like tents, sleeping bags, etc. Honestly, you don’t need to pack much. You really only need clothing for the first months and whatever hygiene products and electronics that will make you happy. Since I put no effort into my own packing and did literally no research, I made you guys a list of what I wish I’d brought. In a way, this makes me feel like I’m redeeming myself. Otherwise, that concludes what to expect when you first get to Zambia. The training can be rough but enjoy it. Your intake group is your family so soak it up and really get to know everybody. I hope this helped and if you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Packing list:

Clothing: REDs have it the worst since we always have to look presentable and have a “real” job. Pack a few nice things but nothing you don’t want irreparably damaged. There are plenty of good second hand shops and it’s perfectly acceptable to regularly repeat outfits. Don’t over-pack because you will accumulate a ton of things here.

- 5 decent looking short sleeve and 2 long sleeve shirts

- 5 tank tops

- 2 cardigans, 1 long sleeve, 1 short. ¾ length are nonsense here.

- 2 crappy t-shirts for exercise and 2 long sleeves, maybe waffle shirts or a flannel. It does get cold sometimes.

- 1 hoodie

- 1 light jacket like a blazer/denim/fleece. It’ll be your go-to.

- 2 pairs loose fitting trousers. REI has nice ones with zip-off pant legs.

- leggings are good for biking in skirts and nice for cold season

- bring some jeans and a couple of going-out outfits, you’ll want to look good sometimes!

- 2 bathing suits for vacation and the chance of a swimming pool

- 4 long skirts, must be past the knees. Zambians view thighs as the “gateway” and it’s offensive to see any part of them.

- 2 pairs of flip flops, nothing special. I opted out of chakos and have no regrets- they’re ugly.

- 1 decent pair of shoes for teaching/nice occasions. You can wear open-toe shoes to teach, even Zambians do it.

- shoes for running/hiking.

- long shorts/ ¾ length pants for exercise.

- I brought rain boots and wish I didn’t, they were too big for my bag so I wore them on the plane and have worn them once. It was an awkward regret.

- You won’t regret too much underwear.

- 1 or 2 hats, sunglasses, any cute accessories and jewelry that will make you happy. You’re just as likely to lose these things in America as you are here and honestly, you might miss something. I miss my rings.

- a wrist watch

- I got a compression sack for my clothes and loved it, it works well and gives you a lot of extra room.

Practical ideas: Keep in mind, you can get almost all of this in country. Lusaka is a very modern place, especially where PC brings you, but it’s expensive and some of their merchandise is not very good quality. You probably have a lot of these items lying around. I found a lot at REI but there’s no PC discount so shop wisely. You can also have your loved ones ship some of this to you when you need it, the first 3 months you really don’t need a lot.

- small tent (great for site visits, I got a cheap one from Walmart but nice tents are just nice to have. You’ll probably wish you had one at some point and it’s a good investment.)

- light, compact sleeping bag

- bike saddle bags. The waterproof clip-on ones are the nicest. Peace Corps gives you a helmet and bike through training and a new bike when you swear in. I have a nice cushy American seat that I got from a volunteer that left, it’s amazing for long rides. Buy one and have it shipped to you.

- head lamp is an absolute must

- rechargeable speakers. Tweaker speakers are a great option.

- 2 good water bottles, nalgene is my preferred brand. Make sure you stuff them with tooth paste or other small things that take up space.

- carabiners, multiple sizes.

- portable first aid kit. PC provides a big one but I like to always be prepared on the go.

- sewing kit with scissors

- duct tape

- quick dry towels

- different sized bags for storage, moving around, etc.

- fitted bed sheets (you’ll probably have a ¾ or a double bed so don’t bring twin size)

- a pocket knife really comes in handy and my leatherman has proven itself useful countless times

- a good can opener. You won’t find one here.

- French press and coffee. Another thing you won’t need during training but could have shipped.

- any food that you can’t live without. Think ranch dressing, hot sauce, candy, etc. Or leave all that behind you and save it for a package that you’ll savor.

- zip lock bags. You can put all of them inside one and they’re perfect for the village. Put your cords and small electronics in and do it early… that’s another regret of mine.

- Diva cup- ladies, I swear by these. I brought 2 since you never know what you’ll drop down the chim. It’s awkward at first but I’ll never go back.

Miscellaneous extras I’m very glad I brought: This was something I really excelled at in my packing. I’m a very random person and it has led me to have the homiest hut of anyone I know. I have also made many, many children very happy.

- my bear, anything that will get you through homesickness

- tapestry/anything compact for decorating

- lighters (you can buy them here but they’re expensive)

- Tylenol pm and tums (calcium is hard to find in the village)

- activities with kids like coloring books, crayons, construction paper, glue, cards, hacky sack, toys, candy, nail polish, whoopee cushions. You’ll be incredibly popular with these items.

- baby wipes (they’re not necessary but sometimes they’re heaven, you’ll find out why!)

- a football, tennis balls, I brought my baseball glove and some balls and now I have a team! Only 1 other person in my intake brought a glove but it was nice to have a catch those first days at The Barn.

- small bottle of laundry soap from REI (good for washing your undies after your bath. Your new mamas do not want to see these items when they wash your clothes during training).

- solar shower bag, it really heats water nicely and you don’t have to put in a ridiculous amount of effort for a hot bath.

- journals, loose paper, index cards, envelopes, good pens and pencils

- address book

- small wallet

- scrapbook, photos to hang up

- pot holders and dish rags

- 2-sided magnified mirror and tweezers. You can still keep up with your appearance. My kids also love the magnified side of my mirror.

- nail clippers. You can’t bring too many, they’re a hot ticket item.

- a good razor and lots of refill packs

- lots of deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, sunscreen, lotion, pumice stone, nail brush (great for feet), hair elastics, clips, etc.

- makeup for special occasions

The electronics I brought and I’m very glad I did:

- laptop. You can keep it locked up through training and keep it at the PC house in your province if you don’t want it in the village. I keep mine in the village and watch movies in bed!

- kindle

- ipods. I brought 2 and broke them both within 6 months but they make life worth living. Keep them in the ziplock bags.

- solio. I know there are way too many options for solar chargers but I just got the basic small solio and it’s all I need but I’m blessed with electricity 3km from my hut. You really only need to charge your phone and ipod, solio is fine for both.

- shortwave radio. I don’t actually use this much and wish I’d saved my money but some people are obsessed with theirs.

- bring extra cords for ipods and such and it will likely help you to make friends!

Peace Corps provides a solar lantern, water filter, med kit, mosquito net, blanket and non-fitted sheets so don’t worry about those things. You also get a huge allowance to move into your new home after you swear in so you can buy all of your furniture, pots and pans, etc. You get to live in your house for a few days towards the end of training before you swear in, so you’ll know what you’re going to want/need. Keep in mind for the things that you’ll want eventually but don’t need in training, it’ll make it easier on your loved ones if you just have an already bought pile ready for when you need it shipped.

Good luck, you have nothing to worry about, and happy packing! I can’t wait to meet all you new REDs in training!