You also had to hope that the person you were calling had access to a phone, and was available at the exact moment we needed to speak to them. Ten years ago, we did finally have mobile phones, but we were just getting over the excitement of being able to send each other text messages.
We still had to be careful to keep our conversations short before we blew our entire budget on one phone conversation. Only the lucky few had access to, or could afford, mobile phones with cameras, and an always-on internet connection. MPesa was a few years old at that point, but it was only to send money home.