Juliet's Kenya Days blog

Letter from Graham to Tom & Mary 28 Jan 1975 –

Our first impressions are very favourable – for three days all our meals were provided by other teachers. Partly to help us out and partly to speed up introductions. There were no spirits in evidence at all ! Only twice did we see alcohol and that was local beer, so at least amongst teachers the gin or whiskey habit (which ex-pats were renowned for) seems to have gone. I have heard mention of clubs though. There is a high proportion of Christians – we had grace at three meals.

From Juliet’s diary 25 January 1975 –

Today we met a lot of new people. They are all very nice. We explored our garden and although it’s a mess it’s lovely. At the bottom is a tall thorn hedge and through it comes our drive which is a dirt track. We saw some children about our ages looking at us from the track outside our garden. Helen and I were shy so carried on exploring our garden but the eldest girl came and talked to us – she is my new friend called Catherine. She’s got a younger brother Alastair and little sister Jane. I played with her all morning. We also met two boys. Both of them are much younger than me.

Letter from Judy to Nanny & Grandad 27 Jan 1975 –

There are 28 houses on the compound but we can only see the roofs of a couple – each house has large gardens surrounded by high hedges and lots of trees, but there are little gaps in the hedges so that we can pop in and out without formality. The children, even toddlers, roam all over the compound. Juliet, Helen and Fiona have all made lots of new friends and there are always gardeners, house girls and dogs to see no-one is unhappy ! Today we have cooked our first meal as until then we have had each meal, even breakfast, provided for us at different houses.

Letter from Graham to Diane & Sydney 29 Jan 1975 –

The other teachers have been most helpful – we were even able to borrow a car one day. Juliet’s diary entry for 27 Jan states ‘ Mummy went into Nairobi to do some shopping and Daddy went to get some other things done. We went to the Lewis’s house while they were gone. After dinner Daddy went to the airport to get the rest of our luggage. (I suspect this is when the car was borrowed.)

Diary entry by Juliet 7 April 1975 –

People on our compound I know – Jim & Liz Elson with children Ian and Russell (daughter Lynne was still away at boarding school) and dogs Binka and Jess. Jennifer & Hugh Lewis with children Karen & Victoria and dog Cilla. Fred & Eileen Welch. Caroline & Martin Trent with dog Tara. Mr & Mrs Assaraff with two little boys. Tom & Myrtle Stevenson with children Catherine, Alastair and Jane (who go to Banda School) and dog Barney. Pat & Jim O’Sullivan with children Owen & Ita. Christine & Mike Meyers with child Michael and baby Sara and dog Sam. Michael Mowat. Joy & Fred Williams with son John and dog Simba. Brian & Ingrid Lees with Julia and dog Dougal. Mr & Mrs Scholes (new) with Alex(11), Vicky(8) and Helen(6) (they all go to Greenacres School) and dogs Tusker and Girl Friday. Raoul & Marie Bourgeois with a little boy.

Letter from Judy to Elaine 13 Sept 1975 –

As soon as the girls get home from school they are out playing on the compound with their friends – there are nineteen children on the compound altogether. They have turned one of the rooms that Hannah doesn’t use in the Servants’ Quarters into a play house which is ideal from our point of view as it is quite a way from our house and hidden behind a thick hedge and several trees ! Our house is even more full of children than it was at home and I hardly ever seem to see my family on it’s own.

Stills from our ciné film: Karen Lewis and Fiona having a lot of fun together !

Letter from Graham to Grandma & Grandad 21 Sept 1975 –

Last weekend the children played ‘school’ in their Servants’ Quarters playroom with many of their local friends. The little boy next door said he wanted to go to that school on Monday, not his other one !