~ Preparing and Orienting ~ Packing List

• Pack what you need to get through one or two days in your carry-on bag, in case your luggage gets lost. Include prescription medications, reading glasses, and other essentials.
• A small Bible and devotional items to share.
• A journal or notebook to record in, with pens.
• A wide-mouth water bottle with lid (for easier filling from a huge jug)
• Insect repellent with DEET (more than 30% DEET is not needed)
• Sun block
• A hat (with all-around brim) and one long-sleeve, light-weight shirt for sun protection. (Don’t count on buying a hat in Honduras )
• Compact flashlight with extra batteries
• Good work shoes (lace-up tennis shoes or boots) and/or good walking shoes.
• Washcloth & soap. Towels are needed at some sites—check ministry sites web pages.
• Travel alarm clock.
• Earplugs can be very helpful. Nights and early mornings can be loud, whether it is the snoring of other team members, dogs barking, roosters, or music from a party close by.
• Pepto-Bismol tablets, some band-aids, any personal medications in original container, contact lenses and cleaning solution to last the entire trip.
• A Kleenex travel pack in your pocket is handy for restrooms without toilet paper.
• Camera and lots of film (film is expensive in Honduras ). Or a dispensable camera.
• Small Spanish-English dictionary/phrase book, if desired.
• A mini photo album with pictures of your family. This is a good way to connect with Honduran friends.
• Extra pair of prescription glasses, if you can’t get by very well without them.
• A couple zip lock bags, and a couple garbage bags.
• Some cash for personal spending money. You should not need more than $100. Don’t take travelers checks, as they are not accepted at very many places.
• Your U.S./ Canada passport in a safe place (many wear money belts around their waist for this purpose) and 2 complete photocopies of your passport. One photocopy goes in a separate place, like your luggage; and the other photocopy goes to the team leader.
• Light rain jacket during the rainy season (May-July or Sept-Oct), one sweatshirt during the cool months (Nov-Jan). (Or a long underwear shirt.)
• Clothes…

• Shorts are more common in cities and towns in Honduras than in the rural areas. In these areas, longer, modest shorts (down to the knee) are acceptable if they’re more comfortable in the heat. Shorts are not appropriate in Subirana, Escuapa, La Jagua.
• For church, plan on dressing simply. Simple skirts and tops for women are common. Hose and heels are not necessary. Coats and ties for men are neither common nor necessary. Short-sleeve collared shirts (knit is fine), for men, and pants.
• Sleeveless tops are fine, just no thin or spaghetti straps.
• Scrubs work well for daily wear at a medical clinic.
• Consider leaving as many of your personal clothes and shoes as you can in Honduras at the end of your mission trip. Many team members shop at Goodwill/Salvation Army for the trip with this in mind! Please leave any donated clothing (both clean and dirty clothes are welcome) with the local pastor or MEH team coordinators to distribute.

• One first aid kit for the entire MEH team. (It would be a welcome donation to the local pastor at the conclusion of your trip.)
• Mission teams have found that a canister of Gatorade/Sports Drink in powder form is easy to carry to Honduras. It can be mixed with purified water (which is provided), and is valuable for team members working in the heat.
• Duct tape. One roll can help in many ways!
• A couple permanent markers. Lots of uses.
• An entire package of earplugs to share around the team.

• More than one team has reported that a new airport scanner destroyed their film in a checked suitcase. Best to carry cameras and film in your carry-on.
• In addition to the regular identification tags, mark each piece of checked luggage for the entire team with a unique pattern of colored duct tape, or matching colored ribbons, or matching bright tags, so that any team member can recognize and retrieve any piece of luggage from the team. This speeds up the long process upon arrival in Honduras .
• For teams carrying donations of medicines, please create an inventory list of all that you are bringing and the expiration date of each. E-mail this list to the MEH coordinator and place a copy of the entire list in each piece of luggage that has inside any item on the list.
• If you are checking cardboard boxes, check ahead of time with the airline about the likelihood that it will arrive with the team. We’ve had 2 teams arrive with all the suitcases, but none of the boxes they checked at the start of the trip. Consider using second-hand suitcases to haul donations and medicines instead of boxes.
• Did we mention pack light?