My Contact Information

Mailing Address
My new mailing address!

Ministry of Health and Social Services
Kunene Regional Directorate
P/Bag 3003
Opuwo
Namibia

AFRICA

My PC-issued Welcome Book states, "Mail from the U.S. to Windhoek can take up to two weeks. From there, it could take two more weeks for mail to reach your village." So if it takes me awhile to respond to your letter, its most likely because of the slow postal system (please don’t think I’ve contracted malaria or anything!).

Recommendations on Sending Mail
For those wonderful people who decide to write me letters, please number your letters (i.e. Letter 1, Letter 2, etc.). Letters occasionally get lost in the mail so numbering them will assist me greatly in keeping up with your correspondence.

As for mailing packages, the cheapest method is via the M-Bag which I believe can only be used for publications (books, magazines, etc.) and is shipped on freight (it will take 2-3 months to arrive) . Unfortunately we have heard word out here that the M-Bag is being discontinued in the States. So if you were planning to send me an M-Bag, check with the post office and send it as soon as possible! I believe that the M-Bags will be discontinued as early as May 2007. For rates on the M-Mag and all other methods of mail, look at the USPS website (http://pe.usps.gov/text/Imm/immicl/immiclnr_001.html)

Some current PCVs serving in Namibia have a few unusual recommendations on sending mail. Supposedly, if you write a religious message on the outside of the letter/package (such as "Jesus is Watching," "May God Bless You," "Praise Be God," or "The Lord is my Shepherd"), the mail will be more likely to reach its destination as the postal workers may be less inclined to open it. Writing the address in red ink (which is religiously symbolic) and indicating that the items are "religious gifts" on the customs form may also have the same effect.

Other recommendations include listing all items mailed as "used" on the customs form; not listing any valuable items on the customs form; including a sealed envelope that lists of all items in the package so that I know if a postal worker has taken anything you sent; and using pads and tampons instead of packing peanuts (apparently this is a deterrent to postal theives).

Email
I have semi-regular access to the internet. So you are welcome to email me (kate.mclaugh@gmail.com) but please be patient with my responses as it can take awhile for me to get back to you. For those who prefer to send regular mail, that is most welcome and greatly appreciated (anyone who has ever lived abroad before understands how incredibly exciting it is to get mail!). That said, the response time on letters is surely longer than email as it can take a month or more for me to recieve the letter, a few days to respond, and awhile for my letter to reach you (but you would get a Namibian stamp so that's incentive for you!).