Home for the Holts

Here is home for the Holts. It's a snug little duplex adjoining the best of neighbors, the Carpenters. Our yard boasts its very own ficus tree -- not in the foyer--in the yard. We have a master bedroom and a guest bedroom (hint, hint) and one and a half baths. The bathroom light switch is outside the door and there are no outlets for blow driers, because the house is not grounded. I blow dry my hair at a mirror in our bedroom. Yes, we have a refrigerator and a stove, but we have to flip a switch on the wall in order for the ignition on our gas stove to work. We have dial-up internet, which makes us spoiled Americans grind our teeth in exasperation, but given that missionaries in the past might have gone years or months without communication, we really don't have a gripe coming. All of these features makes our home well nigh palatial. Our campus, filled with such staff housing, is known as "Little America."


Our only heat in the African winter and early spring is our fireplace. We use it at night and early in the morning and pile on blankets and sleeping bags to keep toasty at bedtime. Montana taught us to layer clothes and use sweaters and hoodies. Our water is partly heated by a solar water heater on the roof; on rainy days, we may have cool showers. We try to remember to flush using water collected from our showers and we only flush after "number two." We water our shamba (vegetable garden) with gray water from our washer. We hang up our clothes, because clothes driers are very "dear" to use.



Our Caring Community boys, who join us three times a quarter, declare this a cozy home and we agree.



Here is our water barrel and it will water our shamba which is in the lower right hand corner of the next picture. Our cozy jersey knit sheets are drying on the line.


Here's one of our first sprouts --zucchini







and the master gardener in our kitchen.








And here are our Caring Community boys and Jim in our cozy living room.