Climate: Hot and humid with a spring rainy season and a fall rainy season.
Summers are HOT!
Elders: Serve shirts do really well here. Get light-weight, wrinkle free golf pants that are durable enough to withstand hand washing and line drying.
You walk a lot! Get seveal pairs of comfortable shoes that can hold up. ECCOS and Johnston & Murphy have been highly recommended and hold up really well. The Cole Haan Laser Wingtip Oxfords held up really well in Zimbabwe as well. KEEN sandals or leather fisherman sandals are worn frequently too. Bring athletic shoes and slides for showering and wearing around the apartment as well.
Invest in good quality moisture wicking socks.
The TIMBUK2 Classic xs messenger bag is very popular.
Wear a bucket hat or something similar.
Consider bringing hair clippers and/or scissors. There is often not a good option for hair cuts. And maybe practice some before leaving.
Because of the daily doxycycline meds (to prevent Malaria), your gut can take a beating. Consider bringing a probiotic.
Bring all medication that you will need for your service. Cold medication cannot really be found here. It is also hard to find tylenol and ibuprofen. Missionaries often will experience diarrhea, especially at first, so bring a good stock of immodium.
Missionaries have filtered water in their apartments, but sometimes things aren't running as they should, so a filtration water bottle is very helpful.
Because missionaries line dry their clothing, bring clothes pins. They are hard to find.
Emails are typed on the phone, so a bluetooth portable keyboard is very nice to have.
The power goes out a lot there. It is helpful to have a solar power bank to charge your phone and a solar powered fan to keep you cool when that happens.
Be prepared to learn African French and the local Ewe language.
Many of the African Elders never receive packages from home and it is expensive and difficult to send them from the U.S., so parents just include Christmas and birthday gifts to last the whole mission.
2 debit cards is helpful in case one gets lost or stolen.
No need to send a lot of ties. They all buy locally made ones.
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Tips on Vaccinations like Yellow Fever and Typhoid: The cheapest options mentioned are Costco, GoodRX (request coupon), Walgreens, and County Health Department. You often have to request these vaccines and may have to pay for a travel consult. One helpful tip is to ask your doctor to send in a prescription for the vaccinations — some have had insurance cover the cost that way. Because of taking Doxycycline daily to prevent Malaria, probiotics have been recommended as very helpful for gut health. The Doxy also makes you more susceptible to the sun, so sunscreen is important.
The power goes out frequently, so it is nice to have a solar power fan.
These suitcases are super durable. Their wheels are protected better than a lot of other kinds. They also have a helpful video on how to pack for a mission.
Serve shirts have a ventilation panel in the side of the shirt making them noticeably more breathable. Missionaries serving in hot or humid places absolutely RAVE about this feature. The most popular shirt for hot-climate missions, for sure.