Come Rain or Sunshine

 "Be kind to every kind, not just mankind. Just like you and I animals are souls trying to survive." Mohamed Salah     "Truth doesn't mind being questioned but a lie doesn't like being challened."  "No man born to be wicked, but man makes man to be wicked."  Ubuntu African Proverbs       Ramadan has started, but a bit different this time. Not every food item is easily available (e. g. sugar and milk) or often quite expensive (e. g. coffee and meat) . According to the radio there is shortage of bred in Tunis. I hope it won't last long, cheap available bred (highly subsidized in poor countries) is the one item that ensures that no one remains starving. During Ramadan and therefore late meals kids and youngsters roam the streets most of the night. Yesterday a group of 20 children and teens got together, screaming as if bitten by scorpions and running around like mad, mainly in front of our door unfortunately. If these kids are living in good families that really care much  for their children, I would be very surprised. Neglected kids have a very bad start in life, most of their time out on the street, grown up not to respect anyone and adults excusing their bad behaviour with: "They are children." Various expats I talked with expressed their disappointment with the new generation, poor manners, their changed values (ME- First), less solidarity and empathy, in addition all too often living above their means (expensive smartphones and cars). But of course not all are like that, thank heavens. I recall a time when folks could only afford an egg once a week, were happy to possess a bike, nowadays roads are congested with big new cars (more or less paid off in installments) and noisy motorcycles creating black smelling clouds. Apart from "silent hours" I miss the absolutely charming, brilliant North African smile. In my neighborhood I see instead several depressed guys, some also mentally handicapped. In Germany I obtained a diploma as "Occupational Contact Person" for the later, to help them stay in employment. I noted that mentally handicapped persons in Germany are generally in a much better mood than in Tunisia, but of course here unfortunately less support can be provided. In Germany larger firms are legally bound to employ a certain percentage of handicapped persons. Those who don't have to pay a fine for every month this is the case. That money is used to finance aids of various types for severial handicapped individuals. - Sugar still remains a rare commodity, a large hidden stock of bananas has been recently discovered, first strawberries are on sale, bananas imported from South of America (don't they grow in Africa?) are offered at a presently lower price, but quickly disappear. At varied times the water supply is blocked at night until 6 or even 10 o'clock in the morning. Pipes are rinsed daily. We suffer a water shortage, insufficient rain, like in many other countries. Pity, not everybody understands yet the need to save water. My feral family drinks a lot, seems to be much more than the visitors to my Cat's Table. One morning I discovered that Fritz could no longer walk, his hind legs were lame and he dragged himself to the toilet. Suspecting a slipped disc (in the past this occurred to our Baxter, but unlike Fritz he screamed with pain), we took him to our vet. He suggested to get an x-ray. To our surprise the spine of our tomcat was perfectly okay, so the physical problem could only be caused by the brain. Fritz moaned with pain a few times, refused to eat and drank a lot of water. On the way to the vet the next morning he expressed pain, not very loud and we thought that he will soon be better. We got a shock when we opened the transport box, our little treasure had passed over the rainbow. He had suffered a stroke and in the end did not survive. In order to make sure that the diagnosis was correct and he did not die instead of a perhaps contagious illness (e. g. silent rabbies), though we considered this highly unlikely, we agreed to have his corpse sent to Tunis for deeper examination. After a week it was confirmed that a stroke killed our poor Fritz, who had been living with us for 3 years, ever since an elderly German lady appeared and asked us to take him indoors for  4 - 6 weeks. She said her brother will then turn up and take him to Germany. She once more turned up to bring some food and that was the last I heard of her or her brother. Maybe she did actually intend to offer Fritz a new life in Germany and circumstances prevented this, who knows. At least she mend well for him and did not want him to live as a stray. Poor darling. Jane is cuddling with Amelie, then she looks at me, stops and walks over to continue her cuddling this time with me. I feel appreciated and loved by my little treasure. Madona is very special. She has been living with us for 4 or 5 months, but I am still not allowed to touch her. She just tolerates me feeding her and watches me a lot. Obviously Madona only likes cats, she cuddles with them, but she doesn't like or trust humans. Surprising that not more cats share her attitude here, in view of the bad experience many have with humans of any age, young and old. Johnny is amazing, only approx. 4 months old, he suffered a bad accident, bones of one of his back legs broken in such a way that an operation is highly complicated, considered almost impossible, one bone sticking out, but still covered underneath his fur. We had him x-rayed. Young kids found him near the Mosque brought him to me and asked to please save him. Anyhow, our black beauty decided to ignore his handicap and with a slight limp climbs and jumps like the other cats, in addition started to get interested in the lady cats around my house. He is so brave. Being still young improves Johnny's chances to cope even without a risky operation, thank heavens. We want to offer him an enjoyful life, he deserves it and this is also what those young girls felt. Many entering or walking past the Mosque saw him needing help, but only they had enough empathy to act. They gives me hope. By the way, the weather forecast keeps announcing rainy days that then actually remain dry.