Kali

Kali, which is pronounced like the type of dog (collie), means fierce or sharp in Kiswahili. Moss first heard this little kitten crying continuously when he walked passed one of the empty dorm rooms located next to the hostel we lived in last week. He went to see if she was still there about 4 hours later and sure enough she was sitting in the same spot crying away. He realized that the mother cat had abandoned her, so he tried to pick her up and she was fierce (hence the name). She wanted nothing to do with him at first, but that did not last long at all.

After we gave her some milk and held her for a little while, Moss proceeded to bathe her and pick every single flee off her body with tweezers. I couldn’t believe it. I swear he missed his calling as a vet. In fact when we were living in Mkanyageni, he also helped a baby chicken by picking it up and disinfecting a gross gash on its leg.


Anyway, after that first night Kali and Moss have been inseparable… it’s really cute. In my opinion she acts more like a puppy than a kitten- she follows our every step around the house, comes when you call her, likes to snuggle and doesn’t mind getting a bath. So Moss and I are in love with the new addition to our family, and the Tanzanians think it is sooo weird!


They would never dream of showing affection toward an animal. Mbwas (dogs) are strictly to act as guard dogs, and pakas (cats) are only around to kill the mice and rats. They think of all animals as dirty and cannot believe we hold our kitten and keep it inside. At lunch the other day I told a few people I work with that some Americans treat their dogs like humans…by letting their dogs sleep in the bed with them at night, by carrying them around during the day, and by hugging and kissing them. That really grossed everyone out!

Hakuna shida! No worries, it’s a simple fact that our culture views and treats animals differently. So for now we are happy to be the weird wazungo that have a baby paka living in the house.