Create Jobs

 As in other countries too, successful environment protection offers a lot of scope for additional employments. No money? If more people are tasked with charging those who ignore regulations/laws, e.g. not to throw wrappings or other litter onto the streets, not to use a mobile phone while driving, etc. there would be plenty of money coming in. These jobs could be self-financing! Some streets look more or less clean now, yet in other areas it is obvious that old habits die hard. Some folks may even not be aware that these new laws are also valid for them. I view all sorts of rubbish on the streets whenever I open my front door. Kids never knew any different, what you don't need, just drop it, where ever you are. One boy advised me: This is Tunisia, it's normal here, constant yelling also. If you don't like it you can lump it! I replied: "No, such bad behaviour does not exist everywhere in Tunisia. Why are you running Tunisia down?" Poor people cannot pay fines? Most kids here  have mobile phones, usually even with Internet. I saw children riding motorbikes, is this okay? At the crossroads here, between 20 -30 children meet every day, those of one age group gang together, either kicking balls against any house wall, or climb onto them, chase cats, throw stones, they are out on the street all day until late at night. Those who attend school arrive more or less straight afterwards.  When stones are considered to be toys, and animals are not seen as living creatures, elderly not worth listening to, etc. this means plenty of work for  street workers and urgent need of kindergartens, infant-schools for kids from poor families. This would give these youngsters a chance to become good citizens. I hear the German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Tunis/Marsa supports a Kindergarten in Tunis, perhaps they could be approached or other sources. Another point, these youngsters don't seem to know the beautiful world books can open to them. They read school books that's it. Mobile libraries in buses to promote reading would be great. One can learn so much through good books. Parents who read fairy tales to their little kids stimulate their intelligence.

Living with Cats

Lately I noticed several cats with (so far) non-fatal head injuries that don't look like the effect of fighting with other cats, but rather like contact with persons suffering from withered brains (when boredom, ignorance and lack of empathy come together). Safir, a lovely gentle cat, after whom I've been looking ever since he was approx. 3 months old, always stayed close to my house whenever he went outside. One day I discovered a bleeding hole on the right side of his check, teeth visible. The vet informed me, he must have got burnt wilfully with a lighter, the wound worsened through bacteria. As hooligans, always up to no good (don't I know it!) like to sit on the steps of the unoccupied house next door, I am convinced it was one of them who did it. Proud to be stupid and destructive! The vet stitched the wound twice; it didn't last long. She advised me a third time would be no good, I could try to clean the wound, but this would mean "Betadine" getting into Safir's mouth, and there was always some wound liquid seeping out. Poor Safir decided to make the best out of his hopeless situation and ignored it as long as possible (now approx. 5 months), continue to go out on the street for a couple of hours a day, chase the ladies....., cuddle with me, never lament, I admire his courage! For 4 days meanwhile he withdrew himself, doesn't eat, drank only a tiny bit, I fear he's going to die. I am so sad.
If there is a paradise, I can only say that in this part of Souse I know more cats than people who deserve it. Gloria, the most beautiful cat I have ever seen, came as usual for her breakfast, but didn't eat, I was surprised to hear her mourning, then I discovered she brought her dead baby kitten (approx. 3 weeks old) to me. I tried to comfort her by stroking her gorgeous fur. Not sure she's got a house, she always looks very neat. I felt sorry for the poor mum. There was a time when Tunisians recognised the value of cats, as they protected them against scorpions, cockroaches, mice, rats etc. I see cats as a present from heaven, little fur angels, a ray of sunshine. Why do even toddlers here try to chase them, throw stones....? It must be the bad models they are watching, one way children learn. I try to set a good example, different behaviour is possible. Silence is a sign of consent. You don't have to be rich to teach your children respect, good manners, empathy. If you believe in God/Allah, what right have you to abuse his creatures?

Food for Cats

Often cats are fed with the remains of Tunsian food & other dishes. They seem to even like couscous, macaroni, etc, but it shouldn't be spiced too hot nor with much salt; ideally not the only food offered. Tinned cats' food is available ( not very cheap), there are 4 types of sausages, produced in Tunisia and mend to be for cats and dogs alike, though cats need "Taurin" & dogs don't, the sausages don't allow for this. Still, I remember when such animal food was not on sale. The folks here call those sausages 'Salami". I explain to the children that these are not suitable for human beings. Dry food (crocants) seems to be specially designed for cats and there are different products for dogs. My Vet advised me that the cats' stomach is very sensible and a change of food often causes diarrhoea, for very young kittens this can be fatal. Suitable food to stop diarrhoea is: rice with finely chopped carrots & boiled chicken, perhaps with unspiced thin chicken broth; or cottage cheese/ low fat Ricotta with mashed potato. Much fuss for those little darlings? Life will be tough enough for them later on. I remember taking a kitten in a taxi to a vet (it was bleeding from the anus, possible cause: fish bone) the taxi driver was very impressed: "Can't you adopt me, it must be great to live with someone with your attitude."

More about Cats

Cats living on the streets, every day more or less fighting for survival, age quicker. We would too. There are several really beautiful cats here, unfortunately not much protected or appreciated. Kassimir, a big, strong tomcat with soft golden coloured fur, loved to cuddle with me. And so did his son, Sunnyboy. I could do with a big garden, space for all cats that want to come, but that is just a dream and therefore I have to accept that I can only help within limits. Anyhow, both cats seemed to age over night, Kassimir appears to be dead, suddenly no longer around, sad. Esperanza, a chinchilla gentle cat, that used to live mainly underneath my Yucca tree, was poisoned by disturbed people and died close to my house two days ago. She never harmed anybody. Even some of the children here loved her, but were not allowed to take her home. There was a time when cats were regarded as precious as gold, a present from heaven, protecting folks' cereals and doing their part for vermin control. With our new life style no longer required? If you walk with your eyes open, you won't say so. Besides, why not just enjoy their beauty, inside and outside. Many famous people loved /love cats. A woman was prepared to take one of my cats, providing I have the cat examined and vaccinated by a vet. I can't provide such a service, I am a one-person organisation, with a little bit of none-financial help from time to time. Well meaning people/children some times drop cardboard boxes with kittens in front of my door. This depresses me, if separated from their mother too young, they can't survive, Until lately it was impossible to buy milk for baby cats. Doubtlessly several folks consider this an absolute luxury, not cheap the milk powder, 75 Dinar, includes a milk bottle, which my 2 kittens just love! I have to fight with them to get it back. Strangely the 3. kitten (arrived later with another one, badly wounded on head & neck, one leg crushed, died the next day) doesn't want the bottle. My vet advised me that cow's milk needs to be mixed with mineral water, 1: 2 if fed to baby cats. They seem to do well, a lot of work for me. Don't know how to teach them one day everything a cat needs to know. How to catch mice? Filou, my tomcat in Germany, one day brought a field mouse upstairs to my flat in order to teach me to do just that. He was successful, I caught the frightened little mouse with my hand, but didn't eat it. I put the mouse back where it belonged, when Filou wasn't watching. Didn't want to disappoint my "teacher". I would think a similar scene is highly unlikely in Tunisia. The kittens are now approx. 4 weeks old. I wondered how to train them to use a toilet - a square plastic bowl filled with some sand - surprise, surprise, they understood immediately, without words! Cats are individuals, not all alike. While some are happy to live in a team, others would prefer to be the "only child".  Bad experiences makes them shy and mistrust children here. Quite different in Europe. The company of a cat is relaxing, stroking it helps to lower ones blood pressure. I noted cats sometimes have eye problems, one eye closed, as if sealed. At the pharmacy's are 2 products available at low costs that work wonders, Physiol Chlorure de Sodium and Orecyline Pommade Ophtalmique. If nothing is done & with perhaps pus in the eye, the poor cat can loose her eye. Another big problem are ear mites, Oridermyl Vetoquinol Pommade Auriculaire helps, but needs to be applied more than ones. As the cat is very sensitive reference her eyes and ears & doesn't understand what you are up to, the treatment is not all that easy and it is helpful to wrap her in a towel so she can't use her claws. Jasmina, a beautiful street cat, was just about to give birth, right in front of the entrance door of my house. I very quickly created a bed for her, minutes before she gave birth to 5 lovely kittens. One died weeks later for unknown reasons, seemed to be healthy. So far Jasmina doesn't seem to be keen to look for another shelter for her family, prefers this "hotel"; I guess as a street cat she never had it so good before, waitress and toilet woman inclusive. Jasmina is a great Mummy, I noticed before that cats are very loving mothers with the effect of gentle relaxed kittens. We can learn from cats the importance of good parents. I know, as a rule the cat fathers are not on the scene, but some tomcats also care for kittens.In Germany I encountered an adult street cat with 4 little ones. Everybody thought, mother with her young ones, but no, it was a caring father.

Such is Life

  A flea can harass a lion more than a lion a flea (Kenyan proverb).                                            One of my blogg viewers suggested I could perhaps write about sports/football. Thank you for your kind comments. There are surely better sports' exerts than I am. I studied human behaviour, educational & social sciences etc. , nevertheless I do of course understand the importance of sports and in particular football for males/females of all ages. You can make a boy happy by buying him a football, but please, please, teach him respect, so that he can be respected. He may feel like a king - after all we have a lot of " Royalty" here: Royal Beech Hotel, Royal Salem Hotel, Royal Jinene Hotel etc., Parc d' Prince, golden painted furniture on sale - yet in our society exists property that belongs to other folks who don't like the markings of his football on their walls, cars, or even heads and other parts of the body, nor his and his playmates never ending ear-splitting yelling.                                                               It is more blessed to give than to receive, sounds good, but not all that simple. If you try to help within your financial limits, it may be misunderstood that there is much more to come, providing the receiver can think of a good reason for "just one more request, the last one" (there are many last ones, believe me, like: medication, hospital, x-ray, gas bottle, food,  the same again this time for the mother, wife, child.....). Sympathy with hungry or injured cats must mean you are rich, simple minds see it that way and children do. The Quran states 5 steps a Muslim must follow, number 3: help the poor. In view of all those expensive new cars I see here every day, I'd think there is plenty of money around to support the needy! Unfortunately that remains a nice dream, here as in other countries, with other religions, wealth is uneven distributed & the rich are not too keen to share. A severely handicapped person receives 100 Dinar (will raise to 110 soon) support from the state per month, some medicine distributed by hospitals is free; yet not always handed out "the correct way", therefore perhaps not available this time....                                                                                  Sharia for cats?  Animals don't know stealing, they have no money to pay with. Some food is given to them, on other occasions they help themselves; it may be necessary in order to survive. Now several people here appear to practise Sharia for cats that "steal". They beat, stone, kill them or chop their tail off. If you think that's justified, tell me what would be the appropriate punishment for human thieves (I encountered some)? While several kids ask for food for their cat or dog, others just steal what I put outside for cats, sometimes including the bowl! A boy on a bike, approx. 5-6 years old,  kept saying "money, money " to me (probably the only English word he knows), so today I replied: "Atini barscha fluss" (give me a lot of money). His reaction was quite unexpected. He almost cried and declared he hasn't got any money; his mate stressed that his father is poor. One needs to be careful with making jokes with children, they often don't recognise them as such, there was no reason why I should seriously demand money of him!  Poor boy, at least his parents managed to get him a bike, like several others lately have and better shoes, I noted.  The other day, returning from a supermarket, I met him again and he once more said "money, money " to me. When I replied I haven't got any, he advised me, since I've been shopping, this can't be.                                                                                                                                           A woman looking as if she has problems to make ends meet, enquired whether we would sell or let our house. She either thought perhaps we may have given up and are now prepared to sell or let the house for next to nothing or she's one of these "hobby brokers" here. For this you don't need any qualification, just get the prospective seller & buyer or the prospective landlord & the tenant  together and in case of success, charge both parties.   What have kids and cats in common? When Mummy isn't near, they scream a lot (kittens do), run fast and love to play ball, football & handball; whereby cats have the advantage of four legs to shoot the ball. A young lady asked me: "Why do cats love you?" An interesting question, a few people noted how different they react to me (come running, let me stroke them, want to sit on my lap). I think the answer is, I love and respect them.                               More tourists are slowly coming back and hopefully the town's authorities can take the necessary steps to make Souse more attractive again, in my opinion this includes educating the hooligans, reduction of avoidable air pollution and noise (traffic!). The beautiful lilac & jasmine blossom, strawberries, it is all there now while the days are still cold in most of Europe.                                                                                                                          Good News (some may value it differently): With effect of 27th April it gets expensive to: just drop your waste (wrappings etc) where ever you are (50 Dinar), not to use seat belts (60 Dinar) whereby taxi drivers are exempt in towns, supposed to make their work easier - but surely not safer, urinating on the street (60 Dinar), never occurred to me to be a big problem, yet at taxi/ collective taxi stations public toilets should be available (not always the case).  Tunisia is on a good way, hopefully next will be tackled the problem with those motorbikes, often without registration plates, proudly ridden by young men who don't care for air pollution & health risks and tuned their motorbike to create maximum exhaust gas and ear splitting noise. One should not forget those folks who collect plastic bottles for recycling and old bread to be reused for animal food (some bread with mould - when heated up and mixed with other supplements hopefully won't be harmful), mainly elderly men, not uneducated, they contribute to environmental protection, earn very little money and deserve our respect! Quite a few have seen better days.                                                           It would be great if this stone throwing, "just for stupid fun" could be stopped, this requires adults/sensible youngsters willing to educate those who practise it; after all we all want a modern society not a return of stone age. This in my opinion also means respect, dignity and empathy, laws to protect animals. Unfortunately some folks will only change/stop stupid behaviour if forced by law, a start has been made, more will follow for a better Tunisia, I hope.

The Crown of Creation

When the teacher asked: What do you think is the purpose of our life, little Husein replied: I know, to play football.....  I am told some of the population in Souse came from the countryside, folks who don't want to work there anymore, sold their land and are quite different from the usual town inhabitants, who are not happy with their and in particular the kids' behaviour. They misunderstand the new freedom as a freedom to let their children roam the streets, no restriction by basic rules of a civilised society, regard respect for animal life, each other, and adults of any age or education as just a burden. As parents it is quite enough to provide a bed space, food and perhaps a football......  Fast food, junk food, too much of that makes aggressive, while vitamins have a soothing effect. This is the result of an experiment carried out in a Scottish prison with very violent young men. The positive change achieved by just providing healthy food with the necessary vitamins, it gives hope, but it's a long road. But anyhow, bearing this in mind, I have some idea what kind of food the kids in my neighbourhood consume, in addition there is evidence, the wrapping I find every day in front of my house and on the road. This total lack of respect and empathy, daily throwing of stones at animals, each other, adults of any age or education, even women old enough to be great grandmothers, it is difficult to bear, in particular by expats. Lessons those children learnt from the street: Do what you want, the street belongs to you, climb over walls, damage plants & walls, other folk's property, mock foreigners trying to speak Arabic, you are superior, independent of their academic degrees, after all your Arabic/Tunisian dialect is perfect! Teach animals to fear you, you are superior, the crown of creation! Girls asked me to differentiate, not to say children/ teens, etc. but just boys, they are not right in their heads, mad! Boys are bad, girls are better behaved (I agree, they often are, not always). When I compare the behaviour of cats and those boys here, I certainly prefer the company of the more civilised cats, who never threw stones at me, they know love, gratitude, respect. They understand my language, listen to what I say and tell me by purring they are happy to see me and appreciate my caring for them. The money I spent on presents for children in the neighbourhood I had better saved for street cats. The people here (not all thank heaven) like to take new born kittens away from the mother cats, often put them in the garbage container, dead or alive. When I ask where the mother is they tell me she's dead. So either the kitten's mother died straight after giving birth, or they kill her, but hopefully it's just a convenient lie. By my experience the still blind kittens (for the first 10-12 days) can't survive on cow milk before they can open their eyes. Yesterday I found  2 blind little ones, still alive, in the garbage container. I took them home, knowing it will depress me to see them die, but leaving them there with any rubbish dumped on them, suffocating like that is not worthy of a civilised society. They meanwhile died hugging each other. To see them like that made me feel ashamed of my species, the so-called Homo sapiens, some believe the crown of creation. - Tunisia needs a lot of support. These boys must not be left to roam the streets, which are extremely bad "teachers"' . Among the unemployed are many Tunisians with academic education, who could (possibly with further special courses) help to solve the problem, but this requires money, which I  believe is  presently not sufficiently available. Education is costly, yet it pays off in the long run! Uneducated parents need to be made aware of their responsibility, the importance of healthy food (home cooking, fresh vegetables are cheap) and that envy is destructive, it will never make you rich! Appreciate Expats, they are good for the country and contribute a lot, each one more than several tourists. I would love to recommend holiday in Tunisia, but when this idiotic stone throwing continues, how can I? I am not giving up hope yet. In every country there are good and bad people, children are like wax and can be bend in either direction. Let us educate and give them a future, it will be good for Tunisia too.

Time to Speak up

Look away, keep quiet, if you agree with what is happening and "as ye have sown, so shall ye reap". All decent people here must feel ashamed of the savage act in the Belvedere Zoo in Tunis on Wednesday (reported by British & American media), when brain amputated visitors stoned a crocodile that died of its severe painful wounds. Crocodiles and lions appear to be the main victims of these vicious persons, it is particular bad during school holidays (there seem to be either school holidays or teachers on strike, most of the time, rather strange in view of so many uneducated who yet need to learn basic good manners.) In addition the zoo is often littered with plastic and other rubbish, a "special present" from children and adults alike. All of this is no way to attract tourists! When this stone throwing starts, where are the normal, civilised visitors? Is there nobody to stop it, contact security guards quickly, ideally via mobile phone? Isn't it possible to get at least one or two armed policemen to patrol the zoo, in particular where animals require special protection against stone-age hooligans? - I shouldn't be so shocked, after all I view this stone throwing every day - my fight against wind mills (beating the air). The other day I happened to see 4-5 year olds climbing without aid an approx. 6 meter high wall of a building in the neighbourhood. One little boy on top finally got frightened, didn't know how to get down again. Other playmates started to throw stones, hitting him once near an eye, this made them laugh, no empathy! A boy, approx. 10 years of age, climbed up, grabbed the little one, pretended to throw him off the wall, increasing his fright and making him cry even more. Great fun for the crowd of watching kids. Adults I addressed didn't care, "If a child gets injured, it's a lesson he needs to learn."  - In Sousse alone 40 000 people were employed in the tourist trade or directly linked business. There are repeated demonstrations for the return of deeply missed tourists. In this day and age people abroad learn very quickly what is happening in another country. Europeans usually love and respect animals, nature, the environment. Some change of behaviour can only be achieved by appropriate strict laws and in addition patrolling police to enforce these. Many young men ride motorbikes - letting off steam - without license plates, tuned to create almost unbearable noise and big stinking clouds - in Europe unthinkable, police would quickly stop them and confiscate.... thus preventing many illnesses like deafness, cancer, high blood pressure, nervousness, etc. I would suggest police patrolling on motorbikes also in "problem areas" where tourists are rare. -  Reference the zoo, how about trying "crowd funding"  for the installation of cameras, putting up signs advising visitors who view inappropriate behaviour how to react, phone a certain number to inform security guards. In addition allow children and teens to visit only if accompanied by sensible (hopefully) adults. All must be made to understand that Tunisia's reputation needs to be restored. Words of a famous German author (Berthold Brecht): "What do monkeys say about their visitors in the zoo? Thank heaven they are all behind bars!" If you hate animals, don't visit the zoo. Children must be taught respect. See the beauty of animals, nature, the environment. Buy books for your children, instead of plastic guns from China. I believe poor people can also be decent, love and care for their children, teach them values and dignity. If they don't their children are likely to lack empathy and become a disgrace to the family and even to Tunisia. Tunisia's future is in the hands of the inhabitants, everybody can contribute, so don't look the other way, speak up. The decent majority can achieve much - but only if they don't keep quiet when encountering hooligans, etc. I still have a dream, Tunisia can be beautiful!                                                                                                                         Postscript:    Tunisians demonstrated in Tunis against the atrocious killing of the crocodile, their message: these stone-age villains don't represent the modern civilised society we want, our demand is respect for human and animal life! Hopefully the suffering of several animals and death of the poor  crocodile was not all in vain, if at long last necessary action is achieved.     Information from the BBC: The Tunisian Environment Ministry said that the zoo will be closed temporarily. More guards and environmental police will be employed at the site after emergency cleaning and maintenance works. Measures will be introduced to manage visitors entering and exiting.