Much needs yet to be done

 "People are always going to find something wrong with people who are not the exact same as them. That's just what it is. Black, white, short, tall, religious, whatever. People are bad." Chris Rock.                                                                           The cradle of mankind stood in Africa. Racism dates back to the days of slave trade, the African continent would have developed quite differently without it. Millions died while being kidnapped and transported, altogether approximately 14 million Africans were enslaved, so many great persons were never born, thus allowing the African continent to be exploited and making Europe rich. When I was a child Josephine Baker was my role ideal, adoption of children from many different countries and letting them grow up together as equals. A great dream, but as I lack the means I finally ended up saving cats of different colours and breed from the streets. Anyhow, I was deeply shocked to find out that some teachers in Tunisia are practicing racisms. I wonder whether they bought their academic diploma and how they gained employment, after all many qualified teachers are unemployed..... In a documentary on German TV a beautiful young woman stated that her teacher never addressed her with her proper name, but called her "burned wood". In another documentary a lovely young lady said that she had no problems in school as she got a light colour of skin, but everything changed after her teacher discovered that her mother has darker skin. That teacher claimed the girl stinks and started to discriminate her in many ways. What are the values that racist teachers pass on to their students? If I had such a teacher for my (light coloured) child, I would move heaven and hell to get that disgraceful teacher removed from school! Such persons should never be allowed to educate anyone. Racism is primitive and doesn't belong to a civilized society. How can the colour of skin say anything about the value of a person, when it's a protection of nature against skin cancer? I did not expect this in North Africa, but I heard for some the colour of skin is more important than a good character, maybe this explains some incidents. I noted that one doesn't see many folks "of colour" in Sousse (the opposite are colourless people?), strange. The Chinese believe that when God made man the first sample was too dark, the second one too light and then he created man with that perfect golden colour.

Black Angel Lily an Obituary

 We have more to learn from animals than animals have to learn from us!                                                                               Kids one day in 2016 asked me to check on a black young cat sitting near my window, shivering, a big bump on her head and an injury on her thigh. They said a dog had bitten her and children hit her with a stick. We took her to the vet and she recovered. Being a gentle little darling none of our other feline big family members had any problems with Lily, as we named her, and she cuddled with many. Lily turned out to be very intelligent and inventive. If she wanted to enter a room ( that was out of bounds to several cats to protect some of the interior), she would jump on our back and wrap herself around our neck. She also had a special way to knock at the door, Lily would bang the key attachment against the door. Later on this was copied by other cats, or they would que up behind her, waiting for us to open the door for our black angel. Some times Lily would briefly walk out and quickly return to her home where everybody loves her. One day it was different, she was no where to be seen. We searched for her everywhere in the neighborhood and called her name, but in vain. Kids finally led me to a house where she was kept. A young man opened the door and denied having Lily. We knew that she would return to us if she can. So she has been kidnapped, locked in somewhere for 11 days meanwhile. We decided to offer a reward for her return. Surprise, surprise, that same man who previously had denied having her, brought Lily back for money, I paid him ransom. Still, over the moon to have our sweet honey back. She had lost weight, her lovely fur had lost its shine and she looked sad. It took her quite some time to recover, I wonder what she went through. She seemed to be less healthy ever since, breathing problems, coughing, seemed to be always hungry, but would eat only small portions, bad skin, flaky, later on recovered through vet and medication. Now, November 2021, stopped eating, would only snif at her food. Blood test showed kidney and lung problems. We bought her special croquettes at a high price, hoping she will get better. But she didn't touch them. We took our little treasure to the vet again, already fearing we might loose her, only 5 1/2 years old. Having Lily sleeping in the arms of my husband or above our heads on the pillow, so wonderful, never no more? Very difficult to accept. Our black angel went over the rainbow, leaving us with a great gap, we are in mourning. She gave us so much love and delight.

PostScript Fighting against Windmills

" Above all, always be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world. "            Ernesto Che Guevara.                                                                    While still enjoying sunshine during the day, evenings and in particular nights are getting pretty cold. This means a lot of sneezing and coughing, most of all for homeless poor cats and dogs. We domesticated them, made them dependant, and should take responsibility. But it's rewarding, honest love, gratetude and loyalty. In my experience this can't be guaranteed if you choose to help poor people instead. In such a case it is better to expect nothing in return. Theft of copper cables from Tunisia Telecom tripled in 2021. Sounds kind of familiar? Such thefts in Europe occured as well, only with different actors. Good news: Ben Arours National Guards anti criminal unit dismantled network that specializes in falsifying official documents. They discovered computers, printers and CDs containing university and other degrees and diplomas intended for fraudulent missuse and criminal irresponsible actions. I often heard in the past that jobs are frequently given to those who can pay approx. 3000 Dinar for the favour. With the new president obviously willing to clap down on corruption and bribes at long last, those who deserve a better job or remained unemployed in spite of their qualifications hopefully, if times are changing,

 will find offers that match their education and ability. This should further our economy, provide better schools and morals, proof to kids and adults that it is worth it to gain education and training. Anti-aggression training would be a good idea, in particular for those who come from broken families and/ or mainly got "their education" on the street. Lack of self-control, envy and desire to take instant revenge, already for minor things like one wrong word, are a great handicap. I note it everyday in the neighborhood. Kids that only recently stopped wearing nappies hitting or throwing stones at cats and dogs. This is not normal behaviour, but fairly common among the badly or uneducated here, shameful and depressing to watch. It is important not to look away, to ignore, unless one wants an elbow society without empathy. Some taxi drivers are highly educated, polite and helpful, others are kind of strange, like spoiled princes, they don't want to drive where there is a lot of traffic, don't want passengers with heavy bags, prefer pretty girls to elderly folks. By the way, it appears to be in fashion to snatch a taxi away from old persons. The driver usually doesn't care who stopped the taxi in the first place. So if you are getting on a bit and aren't sportive, hard luck. We have several taxi drivers in the neighborhood, while one of them refuses to take a tip from a neighbor, another one thinks he should charge extra. 

Fighting against Windmills

 "What a

man does not understand, he does not possess. It is much easier to recognize error than to find truth, for error lies on the surface, but may be overcome, but truth lies in the depths and to search for it is not given to everyone." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe                                                     Now is the time when many kittens and puppies are born into an all too often cruel world. It is usually not their mothers' fault, while she is happy to feed the little ones her milk, cruel humans steal them, put them in a plastic bag or cardboard box and throw them between the garbage or in front of houses of people who may perhaps be able and willing to protect the helpless innocent babies. I wonder whether these folks would consider putting a few weeks old human baby out on the street, to provide for itself? Yesterday I discovered in different areas two screaming, helpless beautiful babies crawling between garbage. Shameful. Instead of getting cats and dogs (unless you want a pet family) spayed and neutered, as a kind of family planning. Some believe it's Haram, meaning the Quran doesn't allow this. The Islamic preaching states: " A human being is not perfect until he/she protects animals and plants as well." The operation is intended to do just that, prevent overcrowding and unwanted babies suffer and die in misery. Trying to save the babies is heartbreaking, it is not just feeding them expensive baby milk every four hours, it also means having them crying for their mummy.....and all too often suddenly dying in spite of all efforts. It depresses me and it seems to be never ending. I have seen so many hit, injured by disturbed stone throwing kids, killed by vehicles, dogs treated like toys by youngsters without empathy. It appears to be fashionable among them to keep a dog. If they haven't got enough food for them, they take my croquettes (outside for homeless cats), but unfortunately these are likely to cause diarrhea in dogs as they are designed for cats. Good news, I discovered that several folks in the neighborhood also love cats and dogs, try to help them as far as they can and teach their children to do likewise. A small shop owner declared that cats are heaven sent and gave a home to an injured cat. But there is also a poor family that first took one male dog from the street and a little time later a young bitch "so they can play together", not realizing that six months old is not too young to fall pregnant. They "solved that problem" by kicking her out, most probably already pregnant. In addition she has a minor injury on a leg, as she got hit by a taxi one day. I tried to find her, a sand coloured Arabic dog that does not observe traffic as she should. Together with the animal protection organization "Animal Hearts Tunesia" I was going to get the two dogs spayed and neutered, as well as vaccinated, I can not describe my disappointment and sadness on account of this family's cruel action. Whenever they asked me to help them I tried to do so, within my limits, and had given them food for the dogs. It is so important to teach kids at a very young age the right values. Those who love and protect animals and the environment help to create a better society. We can learn from other countries. Take Ruanda today, every last Saturday in the month all go

out and clean streets and gardens, plant trees.  They call it their Environmental Day. Wouldn't it be great, if we would do the same here? Instead we have those wild rubbish dump areas, if you have bad luck it might in front of your house. One man from the neighborhood said that while he takes his household rubbish to a container in one of those rubbish dump areas, others drop their rubbish on his pavement  or even throw it in his garden. Lately some persons started to throw their garbage in front of an uninhabitable empty house. It stinks and attracts cockroaches etc. Two ladies living near by decided to clean the area, but it's a daily job as this illegal rubbish dumping by selfish lazy people never stops. Though rubbish doesn't get collected from every road, containers for household garbage are always available nearby, no need to dump it where it most certainly doesn't belong. We can do better, time to take more interest in environment protection. There is an increasing number of babies taken to hospital because of breathing problems. Air pollution could easily be reduced if vehicle engines aren't run idle, motorbikes aren't tuned to create utmost noise and black stinking clouds. It amazes me men leaving their car or motorbike with the engine running while they quickly do a bit of shopping. As everybody is honest in this country they don't need to worry about a thief regarding this as an invitation.......as stealing is forbidden in Tunisia.

PostScript Diamonds and Stones

Djego poor puppy found on the street

 "Teach a child not to be cruel to an animal and you will teach him one of the basic principles of the human condition." Caroline Earle White.                                               In Tunisia you can find them both, those who love and those who hate animals. James Baldwin once said: "People will always hate what they can't understand and they hate so much because they understand so little." A woman from the neighborhood accused me of feeding cats in front of her house and causing dirt, stated she's allergic to cats and her children are sensitive too. I actually don't, she saw me being followed by cats and drew the wrong conclusions. A neighbor told her she's mistaken, the rubbish near her house has nothing to do with me and why does she live here if she wants a sterile clean surrounding. My husband adviced her that Allah punishes those who hate animals, that is why countries where they respect and love them are better off and they have clean streets. Humans, children and adults, dump their rubbish on the street, not cats! Running out of arguments that woman accused me of loving cats too much. Poor cats and dogs have to look for food among the rubbish, often real beauties, surprising to see them  there. Some folks discovered that their ex family member on four legs attends my Cats' Table. So I pay for their food, but I don't know where they are sleeping, nights are getting cold and we have a high amount of moisture  in the air. These cats miss their families and love cuddling, I often noticed this, kicking them out for convince is so cruel. If I could I would offer shelter to all of them, not just food. Many Tunisians feed what is left over from their meals, thus noodles, couscous, rice, vegetables, a bit of sardines, bred... (spices are not ideal, in particular salt, nor are beans etc). Unfortunately those who feed often forget to tidy up afterwards, as cats can't do this themselves, the remains stay on the ground, usually on a bit of plastic. Still, good to see folks who care and don't treat cats and dogs like vermin. Only yesterday I watched two boys throwing stones at a dog (not a stray, gentle, but outside on his own). A few days ago, after 5 a.m. I heard a dog wimer interrupted by cries with pain. Following a short search I discovered a puppy lying on a piece of cardboard, throat wounded, a cut or a bite? Close to dying, suffering a lot of pain. I informed my husband and we decided to take him to our vet and try to save his life. The poor soul just fitted in a cat's transport box. After the vet cleaned the wound (deep but not as big as it seemed at first sight), it become obvious that the poor puppy had been bitten by a dog,. I presume a dog trained to fight, those illegal street fights, for which cats are misused for training. The poor little treasure stayed a few days at the vet's, she did an excellent job. Now Djego, as my husband named him, is on the road to recovery, still a bit weak and we are happy he hasn't got a broken leg ( at first it looked as if ). A neighbor informed us that the puppy had been seen sleeping underneath a car the night before the attack. Various folks inquired what happened to him. Nobody knows an owner. We won't put him out on the street again, but with so many cats it won't be easy, if we can find a good family for him, he can be adopted. He is so sweet, gentle and shy. Parting from him won't be easy, we will see. By the way, at present, end of October, the puppy weights 2,5kg and is 2,5 month old.- Near a rubbish heap I viewed a Burmese cat, once a upon a time the most expensive cat in the world, the poor little treasure most probably had a home in the past, these cats are highly in fashion here. But this doesn't protect them against being kicked out if they cause any problem or require medical treatment. Superfisional love, it is better to never depend on such folks. We decided to take Allan, as we named him, to a vet for a check up. He didn't seem to be well and suffered from diarrhea. The vet kept Allan for a few days for control, it turned out that he is approx. seven years old and must have been homeless for quite a while, which means aging quicker, such a difference to mine indoors darlings of the same age. "Animal Hearts Tunisia" met the costs for Allan, much appreciated. Having been washed in Fatima's clinic one can see his still remaining beauty. I hope our other cats will accept gentle, modest, elderly, Allan and he will have a good life with us for his remaining years.

Allan, Burmese little treasure

Diamonds and Stones

 "Our country produces enough to feed us all. Alas, for lack of food organization, we are forced to beg for food aid. It is this aid that instills in our spirit attitude of beggars.            Thomas Sankara 1983.                                                                     When prices are raising it is good to receive lemons, cactus fruit, olives, etc. for free, but unfortunately they are thrown onto our roof and not yet ready for consumption. Please harvest later and don't be shy if you want to thank us for all the toys and sweets we donated to the kids around here, no need to throw secretly. We learned that stones thrown at our house are part of an old local tradition (historic documents already mention inhabitants in North Africa costal  area throwing stones), kids like to spend their time either playing football or throwing stones, they think it's funny. But to be fair, not all are like that. Some ask me to help cats in need. They watch me a lot, so I can't complain about too little attention. Every morning my cats test how many fit into my small kitchen. Once they are all fed, I attend to my visitors to my cats' table. A new arrival is a bitch, German Shepherd with four puppies (she had seven, three died I am told). The female is very gentle and patiently waits whether there is any food left over for her. I am disappointed with my little darlings, they want to steal the doggy food from her, but the bitch remains totally non aggressive, I have to chase some cats away, so she can enjoy her food more or less undisturbed. Her puppies are in the meantime sleeping on a matrass that kind persons provided in an unfinished house. The bitch seems to be known and tolerated around here. This is in line with the demands of the Quran the teachings of Prophet Mohammed, thank heavens for that.

At first I wasn't sure whether I can feed a dog as well, not just financially but also because usually dogs and cats don't get on well together. I guess my feline darlings, my little diamonds, have to get used to the new situation and they sometimes even chase new comers away. (Closed shop?) - A lot of noise, a car parked next to a motorbike, both engines running, men shouting at each other aggressively, close to having a fight, not an unusual sight here, but still, I walk outside and ask them to please not start a war. They look at me with surprise. What do you mean? I repeat my request not to start a war, we had a revolution not long ago, please calm down. Well it worked, following their encounter with that strange woman they departed peacefully. - My doctor advised me it has been recently discovered that 70% of the Tunisian population have too little vitamin D in their body. I remarked it is the result of the way many woman dress, allowing hardly any skin to be exposed to the sun. He replied that is one important aspect but others are effected as well, strong sun doesn't necessarily mean plenty of vitamin D, which bones need. Tourists like to gain a bit of colour on the beach, while face cream on the shelves here try to attract customers with the slogan: Perfect White. Whens  you are required to pay a larger sum, e.g. by a dentist or optician, and are offered installment payments, you will be surprised to learn they actually mean one advance payment and the rest on delivery/ completion of work., rather than the sum being paid over several months.  Hard luck for those who can't manage. - The director of a university in Sousse issued an order that students are not allowed to feed cats on the campus. I wonder what is going on in his head, does he seriously believe this will keep the area clean or is he just one of those ignorants that hate cats and dogs? He should be proud of students showing empathy. Surely students are not too stupid to understand the need to keep the feeding area clean and cats are by nature clean and

 ( unless they are sick) they kill cockroaches, mice, rats, etc.

Amazing, clean cats among a lot of rubbish, so who pollutes the environment?

Samples of fruit donations

A stock of stones in many places

  In the Middle Ages, when cats were killed on a big scale, this led to the spreading of the pesticides, millions died. When Egypt was more advanced, going back in history, killing a cat mend capital punishment. The citizens knew their value to protect cereals. A clean environment without cats? Folks "wash" the streets with a lot of water, they try to protect the roads and pavements against Corona by throwing their face  masks on the ground and " decorate" various areas with plastic and papers. So cats are the problem?

PostScript Positive Changes are Possible

 "Let everyone sweep in front of his own door and the whole world will be clean." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Prices are raising for medication, fruits, vegetables, animal food and other items. A misunderstanding? The president had asked for the opposite in aid for the country. One explanation one hears is the exchange rate for the Dinar, it lost value. While this of course makes imports more expensive, why should it effect locally produced goods? Folks employed to harvest fruits and vegetables are badly paid and without women willing to accept this there wouldn't be much on the market. I wonder whether they profit from the higher price or is it all pocketed by the sellers? You may think the sausage produced for animal consumption is a luxury product, hungry cats and dogs feel differently. Many Tunisian feed the leftover from their meals, thus heavily spiced couscous, noodles and rice, bred. Not exactly what veterinarians recommend and it explains the often bad immune system and short life of pets and strays. I buy the special sausage for cats in addition to the croquettes. Since the prices keep raising and raising, I am forced to reduce the amount I donate to my in-house cats and outside guests. By the way, from time to time a dog or another one arrive without a collar, not sure it's a stray, always well behaved and gentle. Cats don't fear them, one or two even dare chasing the dog away. Lately a bitch that appears to have puppies comes looking for a bit of food. Her tail she presses between her legs, looks like she has been abused a lot and accustomed to having stones thrown at her, a German Shepherd dog. I feel sorry for her and will try to find out whether she has a house and if perhaps an animal protection organisation can help her. Poor darling. - Bad habits die hard. In Tunis folks who damp their rubbish anywhere, if caught pay a 60 Dinar fine and 300 guys are employed to trace those who pollute the environment. It happens even where better-off residents live. For unknown reasons some consider it too much effort to drop their waste in available containers or waste bins. The ignorant just don't care and kids watching this act like wise. Certainly no way to attract tourists. We used to have a place close by with three containers for the residents' waste, a lot used to be damped around the containers, leaving an unpleasant job for those who collect the rubbish. Following a person's  certificate of a doctor that it can be harmful to one's health to live in the direct neighborhood, the containers got removed and a waste collecting lorry arrives at night instead to empty the household bins or pick up the waste bags. I use 2 or 3 small cheap bins since expensive ones might get stolen, and leave them in front of my house, as I am not sure at what time the lorry arrives, usually fairly late. For several days some badly wrapped bags,  partly torn, with  food and other waste were placed next to my rubbish. Neither wanting flees nor cockroaches attracted, nor other neighbours perhaps also deciding to do like wise, I had to find out who acted so selfishly. One day, with two bags containing rubbish already standing next to my bins, I view a neighbor with another bag, seeing me he goes past my house and leaves the bag at a little distance. Next day I see big open black plastic bags in the middle of the road, open,  containing rubbish spread. Where does it come from? Usually our street is quite clean.  Surprise, surprise, a direct very special neighbor, I have written about him before, he invented laws just for us that no one else ever heard about. Further, he advised me that Tunisan folks are very clean, unlike those from the Middle of Europe; my cats are too loud, his son's motorbike tuned to be extreme loud and his racing around here are perfectly okay though. Some people are happy with themselves and as they never do anything wrong they see no need to change.- My husband dreams of a medicine that cures cats from sneezing and running noses. A lot of cats can quickly mean a lot of sneezing, in particular with those cold, damp nights. At present we are all still enjoying the gratuite sunshine, put up with a bit of sweating, early darkness - well not quite, there are too many street lights for that, in our opinion less would do. We hope our President will introduce animal protection laws. Unlike what the uneducated and ignorant believe, there is nothing in the Quran stating that dogs are unclean, dirty, stinking, should be killed, it is fake news! And hopefully folks will learn to protect the environment, it is worth it, Tunisia can be beautiful. I heard expats' children watching people dropping wrappings on the street asking: "Why do they do this?"