Dr. John Gilks was “one of the least-liked but perhaps most efficient colonial officers” in the Kenya Crown Colony. Efficiency was certainly important - but being least liked did not help him with the task facing him. He needed to convince Kenyans that the government was doing something for them so they would be compliant healthy workers on settler farms. And what better way than to attack a very visible and easily treatable disease of the skin: yaws.

But his problem was not only being least-liked; there was also his competition: the medical missionaries, who he felt were getting more attention. That’s tough competition, considering their Patron.

Though it is unlikely that Gilks knew much about the music “back home” in the 1920s, it is a tempting thought that if he had listened to it and relaxed a bit, he may have been more likable - and more effective. It might have even prompted him to listen to the music of the people whose hearts and minds he wanted to win - and maybe they would have won his heart.

But we can’t rewrite history.

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