Postcript Difficult Times

"Tunisians are naturally happy people who like to get together." I found this on the Internet and yes, I remember cheerful folks with an absolute charming smile, really catching. Nowadays elderly persons often walk with their head down, as if they are looking for something they lost, must be their smile, hopes and contend with what they possess. A lot of young Tunisians feel disillusioned, don't trust politicians and see their only chance in Europe. In theory it could be ideal. In Germany e.g. the population is getting too old, the country is running out of young working folks. 70 year olds can not look after 90 year olds (with few exceptions) and the pension scheme is build on the income of young people, when the elderly retire their contributions have long been spent on those who were old age pensioners while the now retiring generation still belonged to the workforce. Nowadays there are schools closing, villages dying because there are too many empty houses, mainly in East Germany. In Tunisia, as in other Arabic countries the vast majority of the population is very young. Could be a solution young  fit folks come to Germany and fill those unoccupied houses with life again. Tunisians tend to quickly learn another language, need to learn another culture with stricter rules and regulations, also for noise avoidance, environment protection, behaviour of children. Can be done as those Tunisians who came many years ago proved, nice theory, it may well be a chance,though, for refugees from Syria and very few other countries. At present Tunisians have a bad reputation in France and Germany, understandable if one thinks of the terrorist attacks there and the frustrated young Tunisians who behaved like hooligans. Approx. 10 percent of all Tunisians live abroad. Unfortunately some of that new generation now, those who know no respect and act out their frustrations, make life difficult for Tunisians well integrated in Europe and who've been sending money home to their families and thus supporting the Tunisian economy often for centuries. These frustrated young men that did not find the paradise they expected to find, can quickly destroy a good reputation and high regard that took long to acquire. So sad, they don't know what they are doing or just don't care. - The unequal distribution of income is obvious. The majority of wealthy Tunisians live in Tunis, the majority of the poor and unemployed in the south. The currently 6 percent under the poverty line receive heavy subsides from the government. The in 1998 founded solidarity bank offered thousands of micro-credit loans to young graduates and small business owners, those who invested in the tourist trade are misfortunes. Many shops have closed down. I remember when tourists were everywhere and it was difficult to get a seat in a cafe or restaurant. At present some wholesalers and retailers are worried as Turkey's president declared a stop of exports to Arabic countries. Erdogan like Trump believes in punishing countries that don't agree with his politics. Products from Turkey are not necessarily of high quality, but they are cheap. You can buy one pair of socks for the whole family, when new the right size for the father, after the first wash fitting the mother and so on, eventually okay for the baby. Imports from Turkey presently amounted to 4,1 percent, cheap clothes, plastic and pottery, watches, various equipments etc. items mainly for folks with little income. There must be an alternative. I wonder why more can't be produced directly in Tunisia. Just imagine one day Turkey wants to supply again and the answer is: no thank you, we don't need you, we buy from our local production. Tunisia requires additional innovations. Those with creative ideas often lack funds, hopefully they will receive more support  in the future. Inventions made Germany rich, not mineral resources, and foreigners from several countries contributed a lot to the striving economy. Those returning to Tunisia  surely bring back a lot of ideas and experience. Are they appreciated or subjected to envy and considered to be strangers now? Hospitals are of a different standard here but for those who can afford it clinics offer a good alternative, they are clean, modern and well equipped. I am now talking from experience . Prior to a bowel endoscopy I was a bit nervous, but with anaesthetic all went well and the niece ladies presented me a piece of cake and a yogurt afterwards. What needs to be improved is the emergency service, it practically doesn't exist at night, so I am told (apart from Tunis). They lack qualified staff who are willing to work night shifts. - The children appear to be on holiday most of the year. In addition they are some times sent home after 1 or 2 hours lessons, because they are too advanced? Skilled and motivated teachers are of great importance for the further development of school students. Pedagogical innovations if known and applied go a long way to improve learning and the kids can even enjoy attending school. If the majority in my class needs private tuition, I would wonder whether I am a bad teacher or are my students particular stupid? Here I am told private coaching is regarded by teachers as a pleasant extra income and those who choose them for this task will receive better results. One mother returning from Germany advised her son never to ague with his teachers, let him think that he is always right, they are like that here. Discussions are not encouraged. A young lady told me one of her female teachers informed her that animals must always be seen as very low creatures, never say he or she, always it, an item, not a "fellow creature". Always support the poor if you can, don't waste your money on animals. I guess she considers this as an highly educated attitude. Scientists see this differently. Those who are cruel to animals are also cruel to human beings. Caring for an animal is good for a child's development. If you never experienced the unselfish love of an animal, you really missed something. Stroking a cat is relaxing and can lower a too high blood pressure. Old people's homes that allow pets discovered a positive effect on the inhabitants. A video on Internet showing the abuse of animals in Egypt resulted in many Egyptians demanding laws for the well being of animals. This gives me hope for a better world.

Difficult Times

A tradesman looking for a job finally found someone willing to employ him: " Okay if you are that keen, but I must point out there is a snag to it." Being asked what he means by this, he said: "I'll explain later." The tradesman started to work and his employer continued to say: "I'll explain later, it is still too early." When all the work was finished, the tradesman got really curious as he hadn't discovered any "snag". So his employer told him: " You did a good job, thank you very much, now I can tell why I warned you, the snag is I can not pay you. - The new year started with bad information for most of us, as the government has to repay a loan from the World Monetary Fund, granted with stipulations, taxes and prices increased for many items like basic food, electricity and cooking gas, coffee and tea, telephone, Internet, alcohol, medicine, imports, vehicles, etc. For those with very little or no income a real problem. I was in the past already surprised that some folks buy bread (220 Millim approx. 10 Ct) and ask the seller to write it down in his book with outstanding bills, to be paid at some later date. On the other hand streets are congested with masses of new expensive cars, which can only mean many have plenty of money or managed to obtain a bank credit that will cause a problem at a later date, as quite a few new cars on the street are for sale again, one must assume this. One pharmacist declared he will try not to charge more in spite of higher taxation, as he fears many of his customers won't be able to cope otherwise. - The other day a man handed me a sheet of paper in front of my house and said: " Belladia (town administration authorities) tax." When we tried to pay the requested sum, the reaction was a real surprise. The woman stated  that we would not only have to pay that amount for 2017, but also in addition for the last 5 years. Strange, we never received such a request before. The first explanation for this: Students tasked with distributing the bills were too lazy to do a proper job. Second explanation: People were after the revolution frightened to hand these bills to the concerned house inhabitants. How about then making use of the letter boxes, where ever possible? Nonetheless, Belladia even demanded a surcharge on account of late settlement of their bill, thus pay interest for bills we never received and were not even aware of. Strange, but the world is really full of surprises. Always expect the unexpected. By the way, various folks in the neighbourhood remarked they can not and will not pay Belladia, their very limited means won't enable them to do so. Well, the government is aware of existing poverty and intends to help these people: free medical aid for unemployed youth, increased state pensions, a housing fund to make housing more affordable, increased financial assistance to poor families (hopefully in such a way that the children will also benefit), government decisions as a result of the demonstrations on account of the imposed austerity measures. While 2018 won't be an easy year it is supposed to all get better from next year on as the economy is expected to improve. Let us hope so, frustrations are understandable, aggressions, destruction frenzy, looting, any kind of violence, though, is not helpful and it doesn't solve any problems. If we want more tourists to return to our beautiful beeches (some tidying up would be a good idea), historic sites, and much more that Tunisia has to offer, it can be done and creates jobs yet again. When folks with an academic background can't find work that matches their qualifications that is so sad and at the same time means a lot existing potential in the country is wasted. According to the OECD unemployment among Tunisian graduates amounts to 62 per cent, this is really tough. During school and later on semester holidays I often used to work, jobs like: factory works, cleaning, tree nursery, selling in a department store, warehouse, sweetshop, copy shop, potato harvest on farm land, washing up, kitchen help and waitress in a restaurant.This was an interesting experience and helped me understand a lot, at the same time I was happy to know these jobs would not be what life holds for me and I appreciated having to do them only for a few weeks. I can therefore understand how difficult it must be for people with an academic education to be forced to work in a factory, or as a taxi driver, etc. just so that they can make ends meet. They invested a lot in money, energy and time, so sad when it seems to be all wasted. While the foreign lenders of the 2,8 bn Dollar loan demand cuts to civil service and broader austerity measures, their usual demands (often not taking into account a country's special situation), 15 per cent are unemployed, even more in the less advantaged south and other parts of the country. There is so much work to be done if it could be financed. We need playgrounds for children, some require anti-aggression training. The other day 3 pre-school children climbed on top of the roof of a one-floor building, amazing, without a ladder, only had some difficulties climbing down again, one kid fell, cried, just suffered some bruises. A construction site on the other side of the road (owner decided to add another 2 storeys to his building, happens here everywhere) is regarded by the local children as a playground, there is a heap of sand, there are staked bricks, piles of pebbles and other stones, their favoured "toys", that they can not walk past without picking some up to throw at cats, dogs, buildings, people or each other. Whenever I tried to explain why they should stop this, the usual answer is: "It wasn't me." And yes, they are willing to stop - at least for a couple of minutes. While their parents take little interest (if at all) how their siblings spend their days out on the road, I feel the kids need to be taught how to play and creating playgrounds would be very helpful. I'd wish there would be donations from better-off countries to further this. Some folks with a short memory say it was all better when Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was in government. Well, he ruled for 24 years and what did this dictator, his greedy wife and equally greedy in-laws do for Tunisia? If they loved this country they could have done so much, e.g. playgrounds for children I only saw on hotel grounds for tourist children, there were many more plastic bags polluting the country site than nowadays, did Ben Ali get any waste-processing plants built, etc? And last not least, would they have robbed the country? We don't need a "saviour" like Ben Ali, Tunisia deserves better. Latest update: more than 6000 jobs are promised to the people from Kasserine, approx. 250 000 families will receive financial support from the government. Investigations into allegations of corruption will be carried out. Sounds promising.

Treasures discovered in Tunisia

If you think I'll be talking about diamonds, gold, silver, etc. I have to disappoint you, beauty/ preciousness lies in the eyes of the beholder, I never before encountered so many gorgeous cats in one area, some purebred, others an interesting interbreeding, usually homeless little darlings - apart from my meanwhile housemates. Several were dumped in front of my door, often still kittens, or I discovered them with injuries. Lovely Tareqqa, white, brown and black coloured fur with an upward bent tail has only one eye, but she can really examine you with a fine-tooth comb,. lately Myriam arrived (mentioned her before, got caught in an accident), fur fox-coloured, with white and brown, lost one eye. I was wondering how Tareqqa would react seeing her: not too happy, looks like she would prefer to be the only original with just one eye. Amir is a gentle easy-going Persian cat (folks here call them "Turkish" as the Turks brought this breed to Tunisia). He is getting more beautiful every day. When I first saw him, a little fury bundle of joy, I couldn't believe my eyes, how can anyone put such a gorgeous little sweetheart outside (at least in front of my house) the same applies to Saladin, my other Persian cat, who is always hungry and checks all the places where I put food for my little treasures. Even though he likes to eat from every plate, he is very slim (what many people dream of, eat plenty, stay slim). Well, he suffered from diarrhoea and I gave him medication against worms, to be on the safe side. What helps to stop diarrhoea is no food for at least one day. That was hell for him. After 20 hrs he had enough, climbed on my roof terrace and jumped from there onto my awning. Luckily children discovered him and informed me, thus I managed in time to get him down with the aid of a ladder. Took the poor soul indoors. Having to refuse his constant requests for something to eat, looking at me with his big eyes, was tough for me too. Did he think I don't love him anymore? Did he think it's no good to stay in a house that doesn't provide food for him? We were both happy when his little "Ramadan" ended and he even enjoyed his diet: boiled rice with finely chopped carrots and a special tinned paste bought from the veterinary surgeon to built him up again. For a long time we thought that Saladin can't speak, the first time I heard his voice was at the vet's and then when he got really hungry. Reminds me of that joke, parents thought their boy was dump, never said a word until one day, 8 years old, he complained at the table: "Salt is missing." When his surprised parents enquired why he never spoke before, he said: "Everything was always there." Felicitas was my first black cat, I discovered her as a kitten climbing a lot underneath my metal fencing, looking for shelter. So I decided may be she'll be happy to live with us inside. She grew up to be a beautiful lady cat with shinny fur, like velvet, shining black eyes. Then one day children knocked on my door and asked me to help a cat they discovered near my house. She had an injury on her thigh (dog bite) and a big bump on her head, caused by a boy who hit her. The cat appeared to be traumatised and I took her to the vet's. She soon started  to recover and I named her Lilly. When Felicitas saw Lilly she instantly liked her very much: Wow, she looks like me, just beautiful. They stick a lot together, but also welcome all other cats, great gentle characters. I often enjoy having my two black ladies and maybe a third one also, sitting on my lab, cuddling and puring. Honey I found one day near the rubbish containers (so-called stray cats often search there for something to eat), tail chopped off for unknown reasons and bleeding. I noticed that when the bleeding stops, a crust forms partly consisting of dirt, then it brakes off, the bleeding starts again, etc. In the beginning I wasn't sure if she would let me pick her up and take her to the clinic for animals. Well she did, something we both never regretted. Now  she spends most of her time (during the day and all nights) in my house. Honey has a white "bib" and tummy, brown, black and orange coloured fur on her back. She loves the croquettes, a balanced mix with vegetables, taurine, etc. that I buy in a 20 kg sack from the vet. Cats need taurine, those sausages that are sold as joint food for cats and dogs don't provide this and they can cause cancer. I presume it's due to old mouldy bred. The men who collect waste bred take and sell it like that as well, but heat does not destroy mould, so if added to animal food, it remains and eventually makes our animals sick. Food from the rubbish dump is of course also not healthy and in Europe, tinned food contains all sorts of strange additions, mainly to make it appear to be more valuable to the buyer, but also sugar, which one won't  expect to find on an animal's menu - I guess it's added to provide colour and to make the pets addicted to that particular product. One of my cats there suffered from diabetes. I had to buy suitable food from the vet's, and also tablets. Money not wasted on Filou, who as a respected family member managed to reach the age of 18, a rare age for cats living here. Anyhow, Honey is great, when she's outside and sees me leaving the house, she comes running after me shouting, sounds like mourning that I shouldn't leave her. Well, I can live without a lot of things but not without my little treasures. They are my angels, my sunshine on a dark rainy day, a present from heaven. Cinderella is a little beauty with white fur and blue eyes, easy going, loves to cuddle, always the first one to great me in the morning. Found her one day in front of my entrance door in a cardboard box, several months ago, now well integrated. Jousef lived with us for a while, but didn't get on well with the other cats. He still sometimes sleeps here, needs his food fine chopped, even though I had taken him for dental treatment. He is only 3 or 4 years old but looks very tired. Living mainly outside makes cats age quicker, I feel sorry for the little darling, he loves  to sit on my lab. One of my neighbours also feeds him, the lady has a lot of sympathy with the poor little sweethearts and when I first arrived explained to me how to treat cats' eyes and ears. Jolino has white soft fur, gentle modest cat but suffers a lot from colds. This is the time when I have to wipe a lot of noses as my little treasures can't use handkerchiefs. Cold weather can be really tough on them. I try to keep them warm at night with little blankets, yet sometimes they decide to get up again, but they are good at keeping each other warm. Our latest new comers (just as I thought full house now) are Alien, a white cat with grey spots, a few months old, loves chicken and cheese, gets along with all his colleagues, and Suzy, tri-coloured, 2-3 months old, who sneaked in our small corridor, appreciates a cosy place there to sleep. Many more little darlings outside, when I return from shopping, they come from all directions, including roof tops, to greet me. Before the revolution cats were very skinny and they also did this, made me feel very welcome. I always regretted not being able to provide more food for them, was difficult to find at that time. It is amazing, how these little treasures manage to look so neat and clean and remain good-natured in spite of a lot of stupidity they have to put up with every day. But there is hope, more and more folks care and are willing to protect animals. How civilized a society is can be judged by the way they treat and help those in need, human beings and animals.