Communication May 28, 2008

This is going to be a long post, but it has basically everything you need to know in terms of communicating with me while I am gone. Please, check out the USPS website on country conditions and rates for mailing to Kiribati. I now leave you with some information regarding communication from the Peace Corps Kiribati welcome book as well as former PCVs blogs:

• Double Ziplock Bag Everything. Or better yet send it in sturdy Tupperware. Or both! Ants and rats are a problem and will get into everything.

• Bubble mailers and envelopes are MUCH cheaper than sending things in cardboard boxes.

• Be mindful of packaging… The packages sent should be able to be recycled or burned

• For customs purposes – Be sure to write “Educational Materials” and throw a few school supplies into the mix.

• Be as VAGUE AS POSSIBLE on the customs form. You won’t get in trouble and it will definitely make it so your package doesn’t get raided. It’s not that customs is untrustworthy, they just have a passion for stuff like American chocolate, magazines, etc.

• Do not send food or other items in tins/metal containers, then the package will likely be opened and inspected because the x-ray cannot detect anything inside those containers.

• Send everything AIRMAIL. Packages sent via surface mail have been known to take up to six months getting to PCVs

• A good technique for ensuring that packages get past customs is by marking them with “God Bless this Package.” So go ahead picture a god of your choosing and think of them looking after the package and seeing it safely to me.

• number your letters and to write “Airmail—via Fiji or the Marshall Islands” on envelopes.

Mail can take weeks or even months to arrive in Kiribati, though mail leaving Kiribati seems to be more reliable than mail arriving in Kiribati. Some mail may simply not arrive. Often mail is delayed because of a canceled flight or weight restrictions on international and domestic carriers.

Despite the potential delays, we strongly encourage you to write to your family regularly (perhaps weekly or biweekly) and to number your letters. Family members typically become worried when they do not hear from you, so advise them that mail is sporadic and that they shouldn’t worry if they don’t receive your letters regularly. (If a serious problem were to occur, Peace Corps/Kiribati would notify the Peace Corps Office of Special Services in Washington, D.C., which would contact your family.)
Airmail packages sometimes take weeks to arrive and occasionally don’t arrive at all. Surface mail takes anywhere from four months to one year or longer. Packing items in plastic containers, aluminum foil, or sturdy plastic bags is prudent because of rats, ants, heat, and humidity. You are responsible for paying any customs charges for personal items.

Here is a list of things past volunteers have been grateful to receive:

• Individually-wrapped disposable toilettes/wet wipes
• Waterless soap in reusable container
• Ziploc bags… the EZ-fills (1 1/2 gallons!!!) or 2-gallon bags are helpful: to protect books and paper from the elements
• 35 mm disposable cameras (the underwater disposables are nice, too)..please remove from packaging
• Stickers (can’t have enough!)
• Voice recordings
• Compilation tapes and cd’s of new music that comes out and old stuff, too… particularly things one can dance to – for botakis! (Most volunteers have at least a portable cd player with them, but it is always good to check beforehand)
• Recent pictures of friends, family, etc. etc.!
• Stationary
• Sauce mixes and spices (though most islands have curry and salt available in the stores)
• Condiments like mustard, ketchup, pickle relish, BBQ sauce, honey (small fast-food packages of these things are fine….)
• Lemon juice in plastic container
• Non-perishable cheese products in foil wrap/reusable containers
• Nori (dried seaweed sheets) (I downed this stuff on a daily basis to avoid malnurishment, and also love making sushi for myself and locals). Please leave in original packaging to preserve product.
• Wasabi powder (NOT PASTE!) with plastic wrapping removed outside of container.
• Dried fruits in ziplocked bags
• Vitamins! chewable vitamin C, B-complex, Zinc, and Vitamin E (with oil inside)…can leave in bottles, but please remove plastic wrap from top of container
• Craisins!!!
• Candy is EXTREMELY valuable to most volunteers, as well (remove all original packaging and put in double ziplocked bags).

It is difficult to receive packages sent via airmail from the U.S. directly on the outer islands. To increase the likelihood of getting through, packages should be in large envelopes (NOT BOXES) and weigh no more than two pounds. Otherwise, the package will be held up in South Tarawa. Larger boxes can be forwarded to your island from Tarawa, but you will be responsible for the additional costs incurred.
Your mailing address during pre-service training will be the main Peace Corps Office mailbox:

Alexandra Viches, PCT                      note: this is no longer my address
PO Box 260
Bikenibeu, Tarawa
Republic of Kiribati, Central Pacific
Mail can be sent to you at this address during your entire two years of service. However, once you have a site placement, you will have a local address on your island and it is generally better to have your mail sent directly to you there rather than depend on the Peace Corps/Kiribati office to forward it.

Telephones
Local and overseas telephone, fax, and e-mail services are available on the capital island of South Tarawa. Public phones in South Tarawa operate only with a locally purchased phone card. All of the outer islands have some form of electronic communication with South Tarawa, but it varies widely from place to place and is not always easily accessible to Volunteers. The government is expanding phone service to the outer islands and has completed the installation on at least five of them, but it will take some time before all of the islands have this service.

The government maintains a CB radio-telephone link with each island, located at the government council station. Volunteers can place calls to the Peace Corps office or other locations in South Tarawa by CB radio-telephone at certain times of the day, but these calls are not private. The police station and the health clinic on each island have CB (shortwave) radios, which can be used by Volunteers in an emergency. There are also private or church-owned CB radios on many islands that will be made available for emergency communication if needed. The Peace Corps provides satellite telephones on the most isolated islands for Volunteers. Not every Volunteer has one, but most islands do. These phones can only be used for official communication. In many places on the outer islands, it is not possible to call the United States. However, in an emergency, Volunteers may be authorized to travel to South Tarawa to communicate with family members.

Now and then, like during conference times, the volunteer will be staying at the Peace Corps dorm. Friends and family can call that number (011-686-21572 or 011-686-21573) when they know their volunteer will be there.

Also, please remember that Kiribati is 16 hours ahead of EST during daylight savings time in the U.S., and 17 hours ahead the rest of the year.

Computer, Internet, and E-mail Access
Internet services became available in Tarawa in 1998. The Peace Corps office has two computers with reliable Internet access available for Volunteer use. Again, this is only on the capital island, so I will not have access to these computers regularly.

However, if you want to come visit or make arrangements or need to get me information in a timely manner, when I have completed training and have been sworn in you may e-mail me at pcv@tskl.net.ki. You must always write “Alexandra Viches” in THE SUBJECT FIELD in order for the Peace Corps office to know who should receive the e-mail.

In the past, the Peace Corps Volunteer Leader has printed out the e-mails and sent them to the respective volunteer once a week with the Peace Corps mail (so let’s hope that practice continues). This should hopefully speed up the communication process, since regular mail typically takes a MINIMUM of 2-3 weeks to and from Kiribati. However, the time it takes for mail to travel from island to island (especially registered mail coming from Peace Corps, Tarawa) and actually get into the volunteers’ hands once it is one their island…it could be slower than just sending snail mail.

Keep in mind that e-mails sent to this address are viewed by the other volunteers and project leaders, so please keep the cursing and obscenities to a minimum (as well as the mushy gushy crap no one else wants to read). Also, no attachments, please.

This seems like more than enough information to digest for now.

Peace,

Sasha