Home Sweet Home by John

HOME SWEET HOME by John


We arrived back home from Nairobi at about 10pm after an excruciating 12 hrs on a bus (which normally takes 6 hrs) this after many detours dropping people off and a slow driver,,,,, I think the driver had night blindness as he would slow to a crawling pace when we had oncoming vehicles approaching,,,,, but we made it anyway so God still has us on the payroll

The next day we wake up to find that our electricity and water has been cutoff and that next door had stuck a piece of wire across the fuse until we got back as they have an office out the back.

It is too painful and still so new for me to describe the first week back which was spent trying to reconnect services,,,,, so I will just hit the high spots

Our next door neighbours are a school for medicine and our landlords , he was approached by the water board saying that if he would slip them 10,000 shillings they would forget about the outside faucet that was unmetered, when refused they dug up the faucet and cut the supply

So we went to the water board who came up with a 65,000 shilling fine ($866),,,,,to which I replied,,,,are you kidding me?????,,,,,we then go to see the internal auditor,,, who reduces the fine to 14,000 shillings and gives me a form to sign confessing to stealing water ,,,,to which I replied,,,you guessed it ,,,,,,,well after a bit of haggling he crosses through the “confession” and we leave after paying the 14k which will be passed on to the owners of the house.

Now we tackle the Electricity board, to cut this story short they have been taking our money and crediting Tom, Dick and Harry’s account and so we entered a paper chase to discover and put right, hopefully once and for all,,,,,,,, can you imagine



But now picture this pastoral scene,,,,,,,,the sun is shining and the skies are blue,,,,,there’s just a hint of a breeze and Connie is hanging out some laundry,,,,,,,a smile mischievously plays upon her lips as innocent thoughts glide in and out of her mind,,,,,,,,,,but then a man comes from nowhere and makes his way to our electricity meter,,,,, and after reading the meter he approaches Connie with the words that no one wants to hear,,,,you are owing 12000 shillings and we are cutting off your supply,,,,,,,A SCREAM SHATTERES the scene as Connie explodes into a million pieces and rushes in doors crying JOHN JOHN,,,,,theyre going to cut us off

Well we get out our receipts and explain what had been going on and he went away reluctantly saying he would check this out but would be back if not satisfied as I write to, you we still have the benefit of power(as a footnote most of this story is true)



Before we left for Tanzania we kept ringing the school where Steven is attending asking when was the last day of term and they kept saying they would let us know,,,,,,I told them we were leaving the country and told them when we would return,,,,,,how hard is this???? So as we were on the road between Tanzania and Nairobi I get this call saying the school is closing and where are you???? At this point I just have to sigh,,,,,,I told them there was nothing I could do,,,,,,,,so part of last week also included taking Steven to an orphanage for the holidays.

Then if you remember Maurice with TB and osteomyelitis,,,,,last week he was ready for discharge and so we took care of that or at least that’s what we thought,,,,,,,they called me into the office and presented me with a bill for three and a half thousand dollars and we only had one 

So I called Jared and he helped me make a settlement,,,,, a down payment of the 1k and agree dates for the rest to be paid,,,,,,on the day of his admission I emphasized to them that I wasn’t an NGO or a rich white man and to use generic drugs etc etc etc “whatsamansupposedtodo”?



HOME SWEET HOME