My Kitchen

Gas Stove and Food

Many people who live in towns, such as Kisumu, do not have a stove and oven like we see in the US or England. People in Africa who can afford it may use gas cookers. Those who cannot buy a gas cooker or pay to replenish their gas tanks cook over charcoal.

This is my gas cooker and some of the food items available at the local grocery store. Because I do not have a refrigerator (only a few people can afford to buy a refrigerator), I purchase milk that can last a year on the shelf if it's unopened. I buy the small packs because once the milk is open, it must be refrigerated. The same is true of the fruit juice packs.

Only very wealthy people in Africa have clothes washers and dryers. Everyone else washes their clothes by hand. A woman named Grace washes my clothes for me. She always asks for extra money when she washes my jeans because they become very heavy when wet, making it hard to wring the water out!

I'm very lucky because I have electricity in my house. And the electricity heats water for my shower. Otherwise, I'd only have cold water for showering. But, as you've seen from the typical houses in Kenya, about 80% of Kenyans do not have electricity or piped water in their homes.