

So, what did they do in this town of charming contrasts – the beautiful silvery beaches; the bustle of Mwembe Tiyari; the Holy Ghost cathedral cheek by jowl with Ambalal House; the Hotels spread up and down the Coast alive with tongues of many nations; the dhows; the vast ships in Kilindini; the baobabs (each one near Likoni ferry said to be the tombstone of a Portuguese soldier) and that epitome of the town's history – Fort Jesus? It is against this background that past and present members have met and striven together to keep the League, and all it stands for, alive and healthy.
At this time, too, the League supported a district Nursing Scheme for maternity cases and nursing the sick in their homes - later to be known as the Macmillan Nurses Institute and Association. These two schemes entailed much hard work, but provided a long-awaited social service to the community. It was at this time, 1933 to be precise, that one of our oldest and most loyal members came to Kenya. Barbie Adcock told that she arrived in Mombasa in 1933 and was met at the ship by Mrs. Fannin (of the 40 cats). Barbie worked for the Lady Grigg Nursing Association, and for some years was unable to join the EAWL, but eventually became a member when Mrs. Robins on of Smith Mackenzie was in the Chair. Barbie remembers nursing Maia Hemphill's grandfather.
They had been minor criminals sent up to make the road etc. They were a very tough bunch of men. Few spoke English. They were only let out in small numbers, but even so we had to have husbands of members armed with rifles for our protection”. Ships were met to offer hospitality to the Servicemen, usually on their way to or from the East, and assitance was sent to victims of the blitz in Britain. These, then, were hard working, eventful years despite the fact that the formal pattern of meetings had to go by the board “for the duration”.
By 1975 the ladies of Likoni were pressing for separate meetings to be held, as they had difficulty in getting to Mombasa owing to delays on the ferry. From 1976 to 1978 the dynamic Madge Hillyar was in the chair and "she could get anybody to do anything"! She initiated a Dog Dip in her own garden. This not only helped us to keep our dogs tick free, but the small sum she charged went to Branch funds. Unfortunately, due to ill health, Madge Hillyar gave up. Betty Miller then stepped into the breach. For some years Mombasa became a "split" branch in fact "Mombasa Branch" was something of a misnomer. As the majority of members lived in Nyali and the rest were scattered from Likoni, south as far as Shimoni, and north to Mtwapa. Most meetings were held at Likoni, which considered itself a Sub-Branch, but supported the main branch in all its fund raising activities. Travel to meetings became more and more difficult for the few remaining members and several times the Branch came near to dissolution. However, in 1982 a small band of enthusiasts, Hilda Brent, Gill Davis, Mary Whitton, Elizabeth Organ and Tess Conway, headed by Betty Miller, got together and decided to encourage younger women with school children to join by having morning meetings. We had a constant search for interesting Speakers and Demonstrators, which was quite a task as most of the "interesting" people appear to work in the mornings! Gradually our numbers rose until we were able to form a committee with one half of the members from Nyali and the other half from Likoni – a very successful and happy solution. We all know that nowadays there are many people who come out to Kenya on short term contracts,
the wives of these men have been the backbone of the Branch since it picked up. One of our most stalwart supporters on the Nyali side was Ruth Lowth. Nothing was too much trouble for Ruth, and her departure from Kenya was a real loss to the Branch. We have very happy meetings each month, and all members help to raise funds, which go, in donations of cash or kind, to the Port Reitz Polio Clinic, the Kwale School for the Deaf, the Workshop for Blind Girls in Likoni, the Shimoni Clinic and the Ziwani School for the Deaf on the Island. 


