Talk Is Not Cheap

This January turned out to be something different than most Kenyans had expected. Even though the first month of the year is usually a slow month, it couldn't have been the opposite in Kenya. Samuel Kivuitu announcement of the muddled presidential elections seems to have pushed Kenya into everyone's lips. From the White House to the United Nation's Security Council, there is always something in the news about the post-elections violence in Kenya.

Not even the Kenyans abroad who are used to a quiet life have been spared from the ensuing chaos as some of our families and friends reside in the motherland. I don't think a day has gone without someone calling me during the day to talk about Kenya.

Normally, most of my social calls are in the evening or over the weekends. During a normal working day, it is very rare for anyone to call me for social reasons. Not so in January. By the time my work day is over, I'll have spoken to one or more Kenyan friends about the situation back at home.

It was only after I received last month's cell phone bill that I realized how much I have been talking with other Kenyans about the situation back at home. Instead of the usual $60 that it costs us monthly for our cell phone service, I'll be paying almost twice as much. Not only did we exceed our free minutes but we received an unusually high number of text messages. And the $105 January bill does not include the cost of international calls made to Kenya through our VOIP service.

And with the situation not under control, we can expect another month of chit chats over the state of affairs in Kenya. We are not even half-way into my cell phone billing cycle and we've already consumed more than half of the free minutes.

At this rate I might as well get a new family cell phone plan with more minutes. Or better still, stop taking calls during the day. Either way, the events in Kenya are costing us in ways that I could not have imagined.

My prayers are that February will be much better. I can only hope that we will not experience another dark month like January.