It was built with bricks and painted in a deep maroon colour on the outside. It had five major rooms which firmly stood on an almost straight line like a train on a rail. The roofing comprised of corrugated iron sheets which were a deep maroon as well. The white ceiling had water spots in various places especially the living room. The water came from rain which had managed to penetrate through some openings on the iron sheets. The inside walls were painted in a soft baby blue hue. There were average sized glass windows in every room. The floor was made of a deep red cement which almost looked like the red carpet. There were three bedrooms, a moderately sized living room and a huge kitchen which acted as the dining room as well. There were gutters running at the edges of the iron sheet roofing which captured rain water to a big storage tank erected near the house. This was our house.

A much larger house stood on the right side of the compound. It was made of stones. It was roofed with silver corrugated iron sheets. It had an enormous living room which had beautiful décor. The flooring was red cement as well. It comprised of three bedrooms, a living room and a study room. This was big brother Frank's house.

At the far end of the compound, was a brick shelter. It had been an old kitchen but now it was a goats' and sheep' house. A smaller shelter stood beside it and this is where the chicken and ducks slept. There was a small kennel closer to the gate on the left wing of the compound. This is where 'Jimmy and Makumba' the dogs slept. Talk of being fierce- these dogs were! No stranger could come into the compound without first calling at the gates.

There were flowers of different species on a big garden at the front of the compound. They were majorly pink roses, blue hibiscus, white lilies, yellow daffodils, sunflowers, acacia and orchids just to name a few. There were two small brick buildings erected close to the red brick house- a toilet and bathroom. There was a very huge garden at the veranda of both houses. On this garden were different types of plants including banana, pawpaw, avocado, soursop, corn, beans, lemons and peas plants. The Soursop fruit was said to be very effective in cancer treatments. There were tall Jacaranda trees surrounding the fence. The fence was made of smartly trimmed thorny and tall bushes which were entwined with barbed wire.

At the right wing of the compound on a straight line in the slightly sloppy terrain stood many one and two roomed stone houses for rent. Daddy owned them. Attached to them was a big shop which belonged to big brother Frank. Mostly Angelina his wife was the shopkeeper. There were gutters running at the edges of all the houses' roofing which trapped the rain water into a gigantic tank close to the enormous gate on the right wing.

This is where Mary was born and grew up the first few years of her childhood. She happens to be me! This is one memory deeply engrossed in my mind.