An interesting conversation…

The coast of Kenya can be a warm and humid place, especially during the summer months (which is the same time as we have our winter in the Northern hemisphere.) For us, it became increasingly difficult to deal with the heat, especially during the night, so since air condition was not an option our solution was to purchase fans. It was a great investment!! As long as we didn’t have any power outages, which was not very frequent at night, we had a pleasant sleep.

A swim in the pool can be quite refreshing on the warm Kenyan coast

When it gets very hot in Mombasa, even the local people complain about the heat at night. They find it hard to sleep and wakes up several times a night to take a cold shower before trying to sleep a bit more. Heat rashes are common, especially among the children. What bothered me the whole time though, is that none of the people I knew, who complained about the heat, owned a fan. They did have electricity at their home, but no fan! I found this very disturbing. If the heat bothers you so much, why not buy a fan like we did? My only logical explanation was the cost. I reasoned that the price of a fan was too much compared to their income. As I accepted this explanation, I felt pity for all these people having to endure this uncomfortable heat without a fan.

Kenyan beach

Then I started to punch some numbers…. The cost of a fan equals to 1/3 of a month’s minimum wage. In comparison, my husband and
I had to replace an AC unit last summer which cost 1 1/2 month’s minimum wage. So when looking at the purchasing power, our price for being comfortable in the heat was a lot higher than in Kenya. I realized that my initial explanation was not the right one and determined to find out the real truth.

It might be hard to picture electricity in these streets, but a lot of people do have electricity

My conversation with a lady in the church changed my perspective forever…

The church had started doing a series about finances, and this lady would give me a daily update on the teaching. One day, the pastor had taught about budgeting – you have to have a plan for your money and you don’t spend it all at once if you have the money. Pretty basic, but yet an eyeopener for those who have never heard about it. I listened attentively, and soon discovered the ‘problem.’ This lady used to buy a new dress for every wedding she attended in the church. Each dress would cost 1/3 of her salary, and sometimes there were as many as 3 weddings in one month!!! I knew it! She could have afforded this fan all along, yet she had prioritized new dresses instead!! Unbelievable!! My pity dropped fast. These people don’t have a fan because they cannot afford it, but because they don’t prioritize it! Further shocking was the fact that a fan is not even on their wish list. If you would tell most people that you will give them money equal to a 1/3 month’s salary, I don’t think anyone would run to the store and buy a fan to relieve their discomfort.

This ‘discovery’ remains disturbing to me, because I know that some people even loose their job over a lack of sleep in the heat. They hardly sleep at night, and are unable to perform their job during the day, so they get fired. It remains a mystery to me why people sleep with their doors open, in order to let some air in when this can be dangerous. Why not just buy a fan? I am still pondering upon this. Maybe some day I will understand…. or maybe some day they will understand the benefit of a fan?