Q&A with Future Bots PCVs

1. I can not get a concrete answer on how many suitcases we can bring, do you know?

Just check out regular airline guidelines for how many bags are permitted. Generally, you get one carry on and two bags to check in. I took a backpack on the plane and checked two bags. I also had my guitar, but had someone hold on to it that had already checked in just in case it would have been a problem.

2. Did you feel safe bringing cash with you? Where did you store it during training?

First piece of advice is to bring and wear a money belt. You can store cash and important documents in the Peace Corps safe during training and service. We brought about $500. Dollars are good for traveling to Victoria Falls (Zim and Zam), Mozambique and places further up the continent. My advice is to bring a few hundred USD, however, bring smaller bills ($1, $5, $10 and $20) as you will not get change if you pay in dollars for accommodation or crafts.

3. How many trainees usually stay with a host family during training?

PCTs this year will again be divided by programme area (DAC, NGO or CCB) between three host communities. There will be only one trainee (or married couple) per host family, but you will not be that far from other PSTs. You will be assigned to a training cluster of about 4-5 PSTs in your area and one language and cultural facilitator (LCF). Every morning your cluster will gather at your LCF’s host family house for a few hours of language instruction. Then, your cluster will either go to the community hall for technical training or will work as a group to do participatory analysis of your community and complete a community project. At 5:00 p.m. you will return to your host family to help cook, hang out, study, or whatever.

4. I realize that you traveled a lot, were you able to do that with Peace Corps income or prior savings?

We save a little bit of our Peace Corps allowance for travel but augment it with our prior savings. There are PCVs that travel strictly off their allowance, however, they give up a lot of day-to-day comforts to do so. We would not have been able to do nearly what we did on the Peace Corps allowance alone.