coastweek.com

TWENTY YEARS' OF 'FORTY
JESUS' AND 'FIFTY JESUS'

A BRIEF HISTORY ON THE FORMATION OF
THE 'FRIENDS OF FORT JESUS' MOMBASA

Coastweek - - The origin of the society was a request by Omari Bwana in a newspaper article in Coastweek for an approach by people interested in Fort Jesus.

About 20 answered.

Meetings were held on a regular basis in the education room until it was resolved to form a society.

Nairobi suggested that we became a coast branch of their existing society, but this was rejected.

Getting registered took ages.

At this stage films and lectures were introduced, still in the education office.

After registration membership soared from an original 20 to 100 within a year, doubling to 200 during the next.

Obviously we had outgrown the education office and lectures were held in the open in the Fort.

Seating became a problem.

Chairs had to be borrowed and the fort staff made extra wooden benches.

The first major purchase from the society’s funds was chairs.

It was fortunate that at that time there seemed to be a wealth of lecturers who were persuaded to come to the Fort - some travelling long distances - their only remuneration being a cheap Chinese meal after the lecture.

Some even produced their own poster.

The initial gatherings were always General Meetings until the registration and forming of a committee.

The minutes of those meetings were circulated to members.

These and later the newsletter were typed on a stencil and roneoned on the Museum’s machine - often a painstaking and messy business.

There were many outings especially during the school holidays - a visit to the station and a ride on one of the last steam engines being one of the more memorable ones.

As the membership grew, lecturers began to emerge from our own membership.
Films were provided by Lorna Hayes with the proceeds of the evening going to Wildlife funds.

The British Councils also supplied some films.

An ambitious sharing of ‘Life on Earth’ was done in partnership with the Little Theatre Club.

Soft drinks and Samosas were available.

So was beer, but the secretary at the time had to obtain a daily liquor licence from the Municipal Council.

This cumbersome task eventually caused the official beer supply to cease, but some members continued to smuggle in cold boxes.

The first Swahili dinner was organised like a military operation.

Plates and Cutlery were loaned free of charge from Nyali Beach Hotel, extra chairs and tables from the Mombasa Club, tablecloths (alias Kangas) from members, never to be worn again.

Kombi loads of food were reaped from houses in the old town.

Members’ staff were there to help, especially to wash up the borrowed plates and cutlery.

Unfortunately having been allowed to help themselves to what was left over, they were too replete with food to perform this operation and the task was left to a few unwilling volunteers from the committee and their spouses.

At the time the fort didn’t have sophisticated washing up facilities and we were up to our elbows in debes of greasy water despe-rately trying to find missing forks, etc. lurking in the depths.

The Name ‘Friends of Fort Jesus’ was probably Hamo Sassoon’s idea.

Subsequent versions were Foffedge, Forty Jesus and Fifty Jesus by Steve Cobb after Victor Borge.

It caused some misunderstanding at the bank, because the Treasurer when paying in receipts was always cordially greeted ‘Hello Sister’.

It was obvious that FFJ supplied a need in Mombasa.

A chance to get to know some of the history of Kenya, its flora and fauna and a valuable meeting place for friends.

- Anne Nicklin, Mombasa.

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