Chapter 288: New Citizens of Nairobi
Due to the news lag, the Portuguese in Angola have not yet realized the expansion in East Africa. There is only the last barrier between the two countries, while the eastern East African territory is completely connected with Mozambique.
…
Nairobi,
The word "Nairobi" means "a cool place". It is a modern garden city with lush vegetation and colorful flowers everywhere. It is clean and quiet, and is a tourist resort for summer vacation.
Such good climatic conditions are also one of the reasons why Ernst chose to locate the textile factory here. In the era without air conditioning, the environment in Nairobi can provide workers with a better working environment.
Nairobi's climate can be more accurately described as spring-like all year round. Cool is relative to tropical regions. Of course, Nairobi is a little cooler in summer compared to Europe and the Far East. The most important thing is that the temperature in Nairobi remains at this level all year round.
"Welcome to Nairobi. Nairobi may not be as prosperous as Venice, but it is not too bad. As far as the current urban construction scale of Nairobi is concerned, the development of our city has been rapid. Because this city is only two years old, I hope that after you become citizens of Nairobi, you will actively participate in the construction of Nairobi. Only when our city is built better can everyone live and work here more happily." Nairobi Mayor Jose said to the first batch of Venetian immigrants.
The Venetian immigrants looked around, observing this so-called city that would soon become their new home.
"In terms of the appearance, it is indeed good, but the buildings are rather monotonous. It does not have the dazzling beauty of Venice, nor the artistic atmosphere of Venice. Moreover, the city is too small, and feels similar to a small country town in Venice. The climate is also somewhat dry."
"It's not bad, at least not as bad as we imagined. I thought the East African government would abandon us in the wilderness! At least there is infrastructure here, and I feel the environment here is not bad. I can't stand the humid environment in Venice. Also, the temperature in East Africa is really comfortable. It was quite hot in Mombasa before, and Europe has always said that the temperature in Africa is high, but that's not the case here."
"It is indeed somewhat different from the Africa I imagined. It seems that the conditions here are even much better than those in Egypt. There are so many people living in Egypt's pile of sand. This place is obviously much more livable than Egypt."
"Look, those black laborers, are they slaves from East Africa?"
"Probably. I heard that all colonies use black slaves, especially in Africa, where there is no shortage of black people. But I saw some black people in Mombasa, but there are more of them here."
The reason why there are more black people in Nairobi than in Mombasa is that the East African government temporarily built houses from surrounding villages in order to solve the housing problem for these Venetian immigrants. The first phase of the planned 3,000 housing projects has been completed.
"Compared to black people, I am more interested in these yellow people. Their living conditions here seem pretty good, but I don't know if they are easy to get along with."
While the Venetian immigrants were looking at the living conditions of the people in East Africa, the citizens of Nairobi were also looking at these Venetians. This was the first time since the founding of Nairobi that such a large number of immigrants had arrived in Nairobi at the same time.
The Venetian immigrants discussed everything about Nairobi enthusiastically; everything here seemed new to them.
At this time, Nairobi Mayor Jose said: "Because you are new to East Africa, you will temporarily eat in the cafeteria for the first month. After a month, you will have to rely on your own wages to support your family. As long as you are willing to work hard in the factory, it is not difficult to survive in East Africa. The prices of industrial products in East Africa may be slightly higher, but the prices of food are very cheap. Now, you can raise any questions you have."
"Dear Mr. Mayor! Where are we staying tonight?"
The mayor of Nairobi pointed northeast and said, "Do you see where those black people are working? The new houses to the west are where you will live."
“How do we solve the problem of drinking water and cooking?”
"For drinking water, you can get water from the nearest well, and for washing clothes, you can go to the river. As for cooking, you can build a stove or oven by yourself, or you can choose to eat in the cafeteria, but except for the first month, which is free, you will have to pay for it afterwards."
"Mr. Mayor, what are our working hours?"
"Ten hours a day, overtime pay is extra, six days a week."
"Excuse me, where do we worship?" an immigrant asked.
The mayor of Nairobi replied: "Of course in your own home. There is no church here. If you want to build one yourself, we support you, but you need to do it yourself."
"Oh! God! It's too bad there's no church."
"Don't complain. In fact, the immigrants before you lived well without churches, and if you are really pious, you can worship at home by yourself. As long as you have God in your heart, God will naturally bless you. Piety is not determined by whether there is a church. Does having a church mean you will be protected by God? There are many churches in Europe, but Europe is now in the midst of war. You came to East Africa because of the war." Jose said.
As a Protestant, Jose has always been very particular about justification by faith. When he arrived in East Africa and met so many Chinese people who did not believe in God, he was even more shocked. Now Jose's own thinking is somewhat shaken, or even rotten.
"Okay, having said so much, the next step is to prepare your registration information in Mombasa. We will assign housing to you according to the contents of the information. Everyone take your luggage and follow the staff." Jose commanded.
Soon, the new district of East City in Nairobi was crowded with people. They didn't have much luggage, but most of them brought their families with them.
"Don't push. Learn to line up first. If anyone pushes forward recklessly, don't blame me for not reminding you. The police are maintaining order." Mayor Jose said as he looked at the crowd rushing forward. "Everyone line up. The staff will register you."
"Bring the file here!"
"Mr. Abbott, there are four people in your family, you, your wife, one son and one daughter, is that right?"
"Yes, sir."
"There are four houses here, numbered one, three, five, and eight. You can choose one."
"Uh, are they different?"
"No, it's just in a different location."
"Then I'll choose three."
"Well, very good. The head of the household is Abbott, and there are four family members: his wife Jenny, his son Andrew, and his daughter Anlina. Community 7, No. 203." The registration staff recorded, "This is your house number. Please wait a moment. The staff will take you and your family to your residence."
"Next"……
Soon, four families gathered together.
"The four of you come with me." said an East African policeman.
Led by the police, they walked for an unknown amount of time before arriving at an empty street.
"See this sign?" He pointed at the sign at the intersection and said, "This seven means the Seventh Street. The area you are in is the Seventh Community. The first house on the left belongs to Mr. Mavist's family, the third one belongs to Mr. Andre's family, the fifth one belongs to Mr. Abbott's family, and the eighth one belongs to Mr. Rep's family. Bring me the slip you just registered!"
The East African policeman took the four pieces of paper from the four people, took out glue from his pocket, and came to the doors of the four households. There was a blank square reserved on the right side of the door frame. He pasted the pieces of paper on it in order. This was a simple houseplate that recorded the basic information of each immigrant family.
"You can move in now!"
At this time, Abbott asked: "Sir, I have another question, why are our houses not adjacent to each other in order, but have to be empty in the middle?"
The police explained: "Because there will be other immigrants living here in the future, but they haven't arrived yet."
In fact, the empty houses were reserved for immigrants from the Far East and Germany. Houses two, four, and seven were planned to be allocated to immigrants from the Far East, and six to immigrants from Germany.
This is just the right way to fully integrate these immigrants and avoid the situation where immigrants from a single region and ethnicity gather in one place.
"Go all the way to the end of the street, and you will find the office of the Seventh Street Police Station. If you have any trouble in the future, you can come to me. There is also a bulletin board of the municipal government there, where you can check the latest policies and government notices in East Africa. To get water, you have to go to the Fourth Street and the Fifth Street, where there are two wells respectively. To wash clothes, you have to go to the river in the north of the city. As for the public canteen, it is the largest building at the end of the street. You will have your meals there these days. There is a toilet behind the street. In East Africa, it is not allowed to urinate and defecate anywhere, and it is not allowed to discharge sewage and wastewater at will. They must be poured into the drainage ditch behind the toilet..."
(End of this chapter)
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