Please Send Us Letters & Goodies from Home!

Greetings from hot and rainy Atlanta! 

Shaun and I are here for a few days for Peace Corps-Zambia Staging (orientation, paperwork and lots o' shots!) before we go overseas.  We figure PC brought us to Atlanta to prepare us for Zambia's hot-wet season (Dec.-Apr.)   :)


Many of you have asked us what communication will be like for us and where you can send us letters and packages- which we're very much looking forward to receiving!  We recently received Peace Corps' "Family and Friends Letter," so I've pasted below excerpts that I thought you might find helpful.  For quick reference, here's our mailing address during Pre-Service Training (July-Sept 24):


[Name of Volunteer], PCV
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 50707
Lusaka
Zambia


Helpful Communication Info:
1. Irregular Communication.
     Mail in Zambia is fairly reliable. Volunteers find they generally receive mail and packages from the United States two to four weeks after it has been sent. The same is true in sending mail from Zambia. Of course, there are exceptional cases in which a letter or a package might arrive within a shorter period or be substantially delayed. Some mail may simply not arrive. We suggest that in your first letters you ask the Volunteer to give an estimate of how long it takes for him/her to receive your letters, and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how often you will write to each other. Also, try numbering your letters so that the Volunteer knows if he/she has missed one.


2. Telephone Calls.
     Telephone lines in Zambia are fairly reliable. During the pre-service training though, opportunities for the trainees to call the United States will be limited. Most Volunteers purchase cell phones, although coverage is limited and international air-time is expensive. Volunteers may or may not have residential phones; however, some Volunteers, use public phones, or find that a neighbor or the organization they work with has a phone they are able to use to make and receive calls. They will be able to inform you of telephone numbers where you might reach them once they arrive at their permanent sites (in October).


     The Zambia Desk maintains regular contact with the Peace Corps office in Lusaka through phone calls and e-mail. However, these communications are reserved for business only and cannot be used to relay personal messages. All communication between family members and the Volunteer should be done via international mail, personal phone calls, or e-mail. Volunteers may have access to e-mail at Internet cafes on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on their location.


3. Sending packages.
     Family, friends and Volunteers like to send and receive care packages through the mail. Unfortunately, sending packages can be a frustrating experience for all involved due to occasional thefts and customs taxes. You may want to try to send inexpensive items through the mail, but there is no guarantee that these items will arrive. Even though many Volunteers choose to get local post office boxes, you may also use the following address to send letters and/or packages:


Name of Volunteer, PCV
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 50707
Lusaka
Zambia


     It is recommended that packages be sent in padded envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed more frequently.  That said, RPCVs I've spoke with recommended that family and friends at home send packages in "flat rate" boxes/envelopes to save in shipping costs.  

     For lightweight but important items (e.g. airline tickets), DHL (an express mail service) does operate in Lusaka. If you choose to send items through DHL, you must address the package to the Country Director, c/o U. S. Peace Corps/Zambia, 71A Kabulonga Road, Kabulonga, Lusaka, Zambia (the phone number for the Peace Corps office in Zambia is 260-21-1260377, as DHL will need this information). If you send the item to the Country Director, no liability can be assumed. For more information about DHL, please call their toll free number, 1-800-CALL-DHL, or visit their web site at www.dhl.com . Other courier services do operate in Lusaka - DHL is only one possibility.


I hope this was helpful for you.  Please know we'd love to exchange letters with you, so please write and catch us up on what we're missing at home!  Unfortunately, as denizens of the Digital Age, we didn't collect many of your mailing addresses, so please include them in your letter because we certainly will want to write you back. 


Many thanks for tuning in, folks!
- Megan 

What We'll Be Doing in Zambia

We are very excited about our upcoming service and although there remain many curiosities about what the next 2.5 years will be like for us, we want to share with you what we know so far.  This is a longish post with good links to explore, so you might want to grab your cup of coffee and get comfy.  ;)


Country of Service: Zambia (sub-Saharan Africa)
Program: Rural Aquaculture Promotion (RAP)
Job Title: Rural Fish Culture Extension Agent
Staging: July 20-22, 2010 in Atlanta, GA
Pre-Service Training (in Zambia): July 22, 2010 - September 24, 2010
Dates of Service: July 22, 2010 - September 23, 2012


Zambia At-a-Glance: Zambia is a landlocked republic in sub-Saharan Africa. It's located in the tropics south of the equator and neighbored by Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola and DR Congo. Many visit Zambia for safari and to see Victoria Falls (i.e. there's amazing things to see if you come visit us). There are 3 seasons: hot-wet (Dec-Apr), cool-dry (May-Aug) and hot-dry (Sept-Nov).  English is the official language (although there are over 70 "tribal" languages spoken), and the majority religion is Christianity.  Life expectancy in Zambia is approximately 38 years and official estimates say 15% of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS. 

This will be a completely new environment for Shaun and I, and we look forward to learning about Zambia's complexity, as well as why so many volunteers fall in love with the country.

Check out these links to learn more about Zambia:
Peace Corps Zambia Program page
The World Factbook- Zambia page


Overview of Our Living Conditions: We'll be living "at the village level" with neither electricity nor plumbing, but rather in earthen houses lighted by kerosene lamps and cooking over wood or charcoal.  Drinking/washing water may need to be carried from as far away as 20 minutes on foot.

I've learned from returned volunteers (RPCVs) that we'll find Internet access at the Peace Corps houses in the provincial capitals. The nearest to us may be a full day's journey away, so we'll likely only visit every 3-5 weeks. I aim to update the blog and share pictures whenever we make these visits.

Here are links to videos other Peace Corps-Zambia volunteers made, and I highly recommend checking them out.  I found these on YouTube and they've really helped us visualize life in Zambia.  Thank you to PCVs Carrie Pavlik, Travis Estes and Summer Moore for posting these!

ZaMovie Part 1 (by PCV Carrie Pavlik)
ZaMovie Part 2 (by PCV Carrie Pavlik)
Zambia Tour Peace Corps (by PCVs Travis Estes and Summer Moore)


Overview of Our Jobs and Working Conditions: The RAP program supports Zambia's Dept. of Fisheries improvement of rural livelihoods by promoting "integrated aquaculture" as a small farm business that provides farmers income, nutrition and food security. As RAP agents, Shaun and I will be working with Zambian fish farmers and our primary duties will be to help communities:

a-  build and manage their own aquaculture systems
b- operate these as small enterprises
c- strengthen the fish farmer associations.

We may be the 1st, 2nd or 3rd volunteers at our post, and we'll likely be the only Peace Corps volunteers for miles.

For transportation, Shaun and I will each be provided an all-terrain... wait for it... bicycle...
to transport us across the 1600 sq. km of our project territory.  RAP volunteers commonly ride over 100 km/wk over extremely rough terrain. We are looking forward to being PHit ("fit" with a capital PH)!  I've told Shaun's brother, Nick (an avid mountain-biker), that we're going riding with him when we get back- watch out, Nick!  :)


Overview of Our Pre-Service Training:  By all accounts, Peace Corps provides its volunteers excellent, comprehensive training before their 2 years of service. Ours will start with several weeks of intensive language training. We'll be immersed in the local language (as yet TBD) and village life from the day we arrive by living with a host family (whom we're excited to meet!).  Once we have a basic grasp of the language, we'll start our technical/job training. This will also include sessions on health and safety, cross-cultural issues, development issues and Zambian culture.

We've been promised that RAP training is rigorous, leaving little private time or individual space.  So, please be bear with us, as we'll have very limited email/blogging time between now and October.

Phew!  That was a long one- thanks for making it to the end!  And stay tuned for more posts & pictures.


Best!
Megan

Introduction...

Greetings!

My husband, Shaun, and I are about depart for 27 months of service in Zambia with the Peace Corps. If you've ever met us, you know this is a long-held goal of ours, so you can imagine our excitement and anticipation as our departure date (July 17, 2010) approaches.

My mission in this blog is not only to share with you our tales of adventure, challenge and reward, but also to give you a window into the rich culture of Zambia, Africa.


Thank you for joining our adventure!