Receiving regular mail with news from you all will be really important to me! Please number your letters so I can make sure I’ve received them all. Here are the specifics on how to contact me.

Letters On average, it takes about four weeks for letters mailed from the United States to reach Antananarivo (Madagascar’s capital), and it may take an additional six weeks to reach a Volunteer’s site. It can take three to four weeks for mail coming from Antananarivo to arrive in the United States via the Malagasy postal system. From a Volunteer’s site, mail might take 1-2 months to reach the United States. “Snail mail” may be a tedious way to communicate with me but it’s our only option, as I’ve been told I won’t have electricity at my field site. Please use this mailing address:

Rachel Kramer, PCV
CISCO B.P. 10
Andapa 205
MADAGASCAR

Packages Mailed care packages would be oh so appreciated! Packages can take 1-2 months, but often arrive in a couple of weeks. Due to the high incidence of theft and potentially heavy customs taxes, try sending inexpensive items (candy, dried fruit, miso soup, powdered cheese are particularly welcome) in padded envelopes, as boxes tend to be taxed more heavily. Send them to Rachel’s mail address c/o WCS as above.

Telephone Calls The telephone system in Madagascar is relatively good and service in and out of Antananarivo to the United States is fairly reliable. In the interior of the country, where most of the Volunteers are located, there are fewer phones and service is more sporadic. Typically, Volunteers plan to be in larger towns on a certain date to receive calls from home. The transit house (a.k.a. MEVA) is the place where Volunteers will stay while in Antananarivo on official business and where many Volunteers will receive calls from the States. The telephone number there is: (261)-20-24-246-70. This line is only available outside of normal business hours (Madagascar is 8 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time when we are not on Daylight savings time).

Rachel also has a new and improved cell phone as of January 07. The phone number is NOW 261-32-45-08267. Her cell phone is still mostly accessible when Rachel is in her banking town (unless by pre-arrangement with her), since she can’t have the phone on all the time in her village (no electricity to recharge it.) On the other hand, her dad sent her a solar charger that seems to work for the new phone so she has power for longer at least. Prepaid phone cards can be found here in the US which allow 20 cents per minute calls with no connect charge. Rachel cannot afford to initiate an overseas call since even a brief out-of-country call is beyond the PCV’s means.