Packing List

Many of you have reached out to us asking what you should bring. Below is a good list to work off of. Please reach out to us if you have any questions.

In 2016, our compound had laundry facilities but not in 2017. We suggest you keep this in mind when packing. We will not know which compound we will be assigned to until 1 week before our brigade.

• Light clothing
•  You WILL NOT be allowed to wear shorts, tanks tops, or any type of excessively form-fitting/ tight clothing such as yoga pants/leggings while in the communities out of respect. Most Latin American communities embrace a collectivist culture and we have to respect that even though the US is an individualist nation.
• You can wear whatever you'd like while in the compound
• We recommend long (breathable) pants for sleeping

• Scrubs 
• This is not mandatory but many of us wear scrubs while in the clinic and scrub bottoms while working on the public health/water projects. They're comfy! 
• 2 sets are more than enough (Don't buy anything fancy if you don't have any!) 

• Comfortable shoes you won't mind getting dirty

• Cheap sunglasses/hat for the public health/ water days 

• Personal toiletries (Shampoo, toilet paper, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion, sunscreen, ect) 
• Toilet paper/ baby wipes for when we go into the communities for the clinic/project days, we will be using their bathrooms which are almost always latrines

• Shower shoes (sandals work fine)

• Reusable towel (Depending on our compound~we recommend getting one anyway) 

• Light (breathable) rain jacket or a poncho 
• When it rains in Central America, it is still VERY humid! 

• Small day pack/ backpack to bring to communities
• Drawstring packs/ hiking packs work!

• Reusable water bottle 
• Global Brigades provides us with clean filtered water

• Insect Repellent 
• The highest % of Deet you can find. Please don't buy the ones with "nice scents" because they have a lower amount of Deet and won't do anything to protect you while in country

• Permethrin
• Optional but highly recommended 
• You spray this onto your clothes/ backpacks/ shoes. It will repel insects, kill ticks, mosquitoes, and 55+ other insects on contact. 
• Most are good for up to 6 washes
• Please be sure to spray it onto your stuff outside and AWAY from pets, especially cats, as it can negatively affect their CNS!!!!!!!!!! 

• Headlamp (Cheap headlamps at Home Depot!) We use these in case the power goes out which happens quite often

• Work gloves for project days (We almost always leave them with the community members)

• Your chargers/ portable batteries

• Talk with your cell phone carrier if you'd like to get an international plan to stay in contact with family. Many options available. But be aware that there may be no service at our compound/communities 

• Hand sanitizer/ wet wipes for personal use

• Make sure to pack any prescription medication/ contacts 

• Snacks (Dried fruit, energy bars/gels, trail mix, candy ;) ect. ) 

• Cards/book for downtime activity 

• Journal and pen ~ This is mandatory for the online class everyone will have to take! 

• Plastic bags to keep small items dry

• Expendable funds for souvenirs and snacks (Some compounds have snack shacks!)

• Pillow (Depending on compound)

    

This is Deet I've used and it works great!
Here's the link to find it at Target!







Permethrin
Target link (I always use 2 of these) 








These are the reusable towels many of us
 used last year
Link to find it on Amazon



Cheap scrubs can be found at
Walmart
Or you can order them on AllHeart

            




Contact us if you have any questions. We will go over all of this stuff during our 2 mandatory meetings but it's best to get started on gathering everything now!


~Jen & Casey