While you’re on holiday in Kenya, you meet a good looking Kenyan man on the beach. When he asks you to dance that evening, you fall in love right away. Unfortunately, your holiday has almost come to an end. So, what do you do and how can you easily call Kenya? Ans experienced this last year and shared her story with Talk360.
Holiday time
In the summer of 2018, the Belgian Ans Van Houtte goes on holiday to Kenya. One evening during her holiday she decides to go for a walk on the beach. Ans explains: “It was very busy on the beach because many people tried to sell something to tourists. I eventually bought a bracelet from a Kenyan man. This man, Joseph, told me that he would perform with the Samburu Masai at my hotel that night and he asked if I would come and see. That evening during the performance, he asked me to dance, and I fell in love with him.”
Calling Kenya
A week later Ans flies back to Belgium with Joseph’s number in her phone. They keep thinking about each other, and they decide to stay in touch via WhatsApp. However, this turns out to be more difficult than expected. Ans explains: “Joseph lives far from civilization in a little hut on the countryside with hardly any Internet. So calling Kenya via WhatsApp is not an option, but chatting via WhatsApp luckily is. The only disadvantage is that Joseph is illiterate and therefore, he always needs help typing the messages. This meant no privacy at all. That’s why I started looking for an alternative to call Kenya, and I found Talk360. With the Talk360 call app, it is possible to call Kenya and to call from online to offline. I can always reach Joseph even if he doesn’t have an internet connection. My call is also connected via local telephone lines, which means that the rates for international calls are low and the call quality is guaranteed to be good. The call app really is a lifesaver!”
‘With the Talk360 call app, we can still hear each other’s voices every night.’
True love
Ans goes back to Kenya several times, and both are convinced – their love is real. A few months later, they decide to get married, and they set everything in motion. Appointments at the embassy follow with intensive interviews about the nature of the relationship. After two busy months, the embassy recognizes the relationship, and they receive the document to be able to get married. Last May Ans and Joseph got married on the beach in Kenya.
Visa application
Ans says: “We may be married now, but unfortunately we still can’t be together. We are very busy now with applying for the family reunion visa so that we can be together in Belgium. We have to provide a lot of evidence to show that our relationship is real. A very long process. In the meantime, the Talk360 call app is the only way to call Kenya and to stay in touch. Every night I call Joseph so we can hear each other’s voices. This makes it all just a little bit more bearable. He said the other day that just hearing my voice already makes him happy. Being so far away from the love of my life is really hard, but I’m lucky that the technology of international calling is already this advanced. I can’t even imagine what this situation would have been like without the Talk360 call app.”
Uncertainty
Ans stays positive and hopes that she has enough evidence to get the visa application approved. Unfortunately, there is also a chance that the visa will be rejected. Ans will then leave for Kenya. Ans says: “The culture and living conditions are very different there, so it won’t be easy, but I’m not thinking about that at the moment. At the end of this month, I will fly to Kenya again to submit the application, and then we will have to wait and see.”
Internet is not self-evident
Nowadays, it is very normal for us to have Internet. As a result, many people do not think about the fact that in large parts of the world, access to the Internet is not so obvious. The number of internet users is increasing every minute, and at the moment, no less than 3,986 trillion people in the world have access to mobile Internet. This may seem a lot, but this is only 52% of the entire world population. This means that almost half of the world population has no access. With a bad connection to the Internet or no access at all, free services such as Skype or WhatsApp cannot be used, and international calls are not possible. In situations like these, the Talk360 call app is a real solution for lots of people, just as for Ans and Joseph.
Do you also have a special, beautiful or funny story that you would like to share with us? Then contact us by sending an email to info@talk360.com.
