We have been around Usa River for two weeks now and it has been filled with adventures. Camping overnight in the Meserani Snake Park, dinner at Khan's BBQ (an auto parts shop that turns into a BBQ restaurant in the evening- my favourite meal so far in Tanzania!), getting fleas in our bed, getting a brutal sunburn on my lower back from bending over in the garden.... good times. But by far, our favourite adventure so far has been Malaika Mbili Corners Marmalade Brittany.
A few weeks ago we went to Cradle of Love to visit the girls and share some banana bread with the director, Davona. While we were chatting, Davona mentioned that they had been having some troubles with rats, and that a worker had brought a "little cat" to kill the rats in the supply pantry. Of course, this piqued Brent's attention and he asked to see the cat. Inside this pantry, which was extremely hot, we didn't think anyone was there at first because we couldn't hear anything for the longest time. But after a few minutes, hidden way in a corner, we heard a tiny mewing sound. Brent then set to the task of trying to catch the cat, and about 15 minutes later, drenched in sweat, he emerged with a tiny little creature, which fit in the palm of his hand.
She was no more than 6 weeks old, which in North America would mean that she would not yet be separated from her mother. She was terrified, and once Brent was holding her, she started to nuzzle in his neck. However, whenever he put her down, she would start mewling non-stop in pained tones. While we visited more with Davona and the babies, we debated about what to do. We didn't feel right leaving her in that pantry... the rats were bigger than she was, and Davona was allergic, so couldn't take care of her. We knew some of our house-mates are not in favour of pets, so we couldn't keep her. However, we decided to take her home for a few days, in order to try and find her a loving home. Most of our house-mates were gone, so it worked out.
When we got her home, our friend Hana immediately fell in love with her. We had recently befriended a cat at our local restaurant whom we loved, and had named her "Malaika", which is Swahili for Angel. We decided to name our new kitten"Malaika Mbili"- "Angel 2". When we got her to our room and put her down, she immediately ran under the bed. For the whole day, if we were not cuddling her (which she thoroughly enjoyed) and we put her down, she would dash for the nearest dark corner. We decided a more appropriate name for her might be "Corners", since she seems to love them so much.
The first night she cried intermittently through the night, giving us a glimpse of what new parenting might be like. Yikes. But after the first day Malaika Mbili Corners started to become more outgoing... when we came in the room she would be hidden in a corner, but then might eventually come padding out across the floor and seek us out. She began to play with anything that was shiny or moving... there are not to many things more fun that playing with a brand new kitten and a ribbon. For two days we remained almost entirely fixated on her. It was bliss.
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| This is Brent, trying to calm her down while I set up a temporary litter box in the bathroom. |
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| Hana with the kitty. |
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| She stayed in Brent's arms for almost 2 days. |
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| She seemed to have developed a curiosity for coffee. We didn't let her have any, as it would stunt her growth:) |
The first day I had put out an email to the St Jude's volunteers who lived off-campus, praying as we sent the email that someone would take her. If nobody replied, we really didn't know what we would do. Leave her in the village to eat garbage scraps and become a feral cat? Plead with all of the local hotels to let a cat live on their grounds? The ad I put out was answered immediately by Shawn, a volunteer at St Jude who has a family here in Tanzania. Her daughter had been yearning for a kitten for a long time. The ad had said that we had an "adorable, marmalade cat" available. Shawn said that she would let her daughter name the cat, but that she liked the name "Marmalade". We arranged to meet her in Arusha the next day. It was sad to give her away, but we were also so, so happy that she was going to a loving home. Shawn's daughter and son were coming back from a vacation the next day so we got Malaika Mbili Corners Marmalade all set up in her new home.
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| Old owner and new owner. Brent is obviously having mixed feelings over the whole ordeal. |
We got an email the next day from Shawn, saying that both of her kids absolutely loved the kitty. They were taking turns sleeping with her each night. Her daughter, being a 7 year old girl, named the cat "Brittany".
We would have loved to keep this little creature. She stole our heart and we will never forget her. But we are so thankful that she has found a loving home for good, and we can always come visit her. Our dear little Malaika Mbili Corners Marmalade Brittany.
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