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CHAPTER 26
ACTIVITIES IN OTHER EAST AFRICAN CENTERS
The settlement in East Africa of the Oshwal community is wide spread. Wherever there are a sufficient number of families the community has an official organization. The big centers like Nakuru, Kisumu, Kitale, Eldoret, Fort Hall, Nyeri, Moshi, Arusha and others, have built communal centers with banquet facilities. Some even have religious shrines or temples.
Thika: Thika is located around thirty miles away from Nairobi. Settlement started in 1910 A.D. As the railway was built between Nairobi and Thika it also became a major center of our settlement, and it has a very active community. After the First World War there was a substantial increase in the Oshwal population. Therefore an official organization was formed in 1934. Meghji Kanji Bid was elected the first president. A plot of one-acre land for a community hall was acquired in 1933. Oshwals contributed generously for the construction cost.
The Jain Youth League was founded on April 1, 1941. The Jain Youth League started a lottery, which became very successful all over East Africa. The money collected was used for aid for poor people. Two rooms donated by Messrs' Vershi Devshi and Premchand Vrajpal in the hospital were reserved for the use of community. The annual expenses of these rooms were paid from the income generated from a lottery. Thika will go down in history for its unique Shah Free Eye Clinic project that was started in 1980 A.D. This noble humanitarian undertaking has become famous amongst all the people in Kenya. Many other organizations have followed the example set by the Oshwals and the
