Ouma, left, worked for us from the time we first arrived in Mombasa in 1950 until my parents left towards the end of 1961, first as a 'house boy' and then as our cook. Saidi joined us later and became the senior servant in the house. They were very different, Ouma a Jaluo from the Lake Victoria area, Saidi a coast Swahili and a Muslim.
They're pictured here standing outside the back door of the last house we had, at the end of Cliff Avenue. The kitchen was through the door on the immediate left. The fire escape led up to the passage near Richard and my bedroom and was frequently used as a means of escape, usually from our afternoon rest.
Both Ouma and Saidi gave us faithful service, which probably explains why....
....in 1967 Ouma and my mother were still in contact and sending each other photographs of their families. In this letter, Ouma refers to a change in occupation, from cook to 'bar man'. I had seen him working behind his bar....
....which, as evidenced by this aerogramme, was at the Oceanic Hotel, when I passed through Mombasa in 1963. At that time he was in charge of the small bar beside the swimming pool.
I don't know whether Ouma wrote this letter himself or whether....
....as I think happened with Saidi, he went to a 'scribe'. There are two letters from Saidi and both are equally brief and formal.
My parents passed through Mombasa on their way back to England in 1970, after they had visited us at Bernard Mizeki College, and I am fairly certain they saw both Ouma and Saidi then.
This was behind the house with the swirl cast iron stairs...
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