Bus tour with Papa

Today we have our Star of the Week here to talk about the state of the Happy house bus, the ever-loved Papa Dave. 
Papa explains how we have had welding work done on the windscreen and the very poor condition of the seats. 
The driver’s window does not work properly, it is a good job we don’t have rain very often ! 
The Government decided that all school vehicles should be painted bright yellow and the name displayed on the side. Yes, the vehicle looks good on the outside, trust me it is all show! 
It is now so important that we replace our bus, on her last legs, with something newer and more reliable. 
We need to raise £25,000 to  do this. We hope you will be able to help.
Donations can be made through Justgiving www.justgiving.com/childrenofwatamu or Paypal   https://www.paypal.me/ChildrenofWatamu
We will keep you update throughout the week as you enjoy the fun with the children.

Sometimes the old girl needs a push

Sometimes, the temperamental old girl doesn’t want to start at 6am in the mornings when she is due to be taken to pick up the kids for school, writes Mama Sue.
The bus is mainly used for the scholarship children who travel in from the outlying districts. 
Their parents cannot afford to feed them every day so the cost of school fees and transport is just impossible. 
We have around 70 children and young adults who are on the scholarship scheme. What a difference we are making to their lives. 
Many were on the scrapheap of life when they came to us.  They had no education, little food, no shoes, and no hope for the future. 
Most of them have been with us for the past six years, they are bright well spoken, intelligent well educated young people, with a future to look forward to.
Without our being able to supply free transport for these children it would be impossible for them to come to the Happy House School.
It is now so important that we replace our bus, on her last legs, with something newer and more reliable. We need to raise £25,000 to  do this. We hope you will be able to help.
Donations can be made through Justgiving www.justgiving.com/childrenofwatamu or Paypal  https://www.paypal.me/ChildrenofWatamu
We will keep you update throughout the week as you enjoy the fun with the children.

Buy a bus appeal

As we start this new week, I hope the  Happy House kids will make you laugh right through until Saturday, writes founder Mama Sue.

We are launching an appeal to help us buy a new bus. I talked to the children about it and they all wanted to join in. They got themselves into groups and decided what and how they wanted to do their part. 
Singing of the song   ‘Wheels on the Bus ‘ was a combined decision. 

The kids have rehearsed all week. Every afternoon when they came home from school, it was a drink of Moringa tea, a quick change and then into rehearsals. They have laughed, danced and sang their way through the week.

We will explain about the condition of this 20 year old bus as the week goes on. Mechanically it is safe, as we always have the repairs done immediately. But now that there are so many repairs it is becoming a constant expensive.

We would like to raise £25,000 to enable us to buy a good, strong and more up-to- date vehicle.

Donations can be made through Justgiving www.justgiving.com/childrenofwatamu or Paypal   https://www.paypal.me/ChildrenofWatamu

or our friends who who already donate, can give directly into the charity bank account 

We will keep you up-to-date throughout the week as you enjoy the fun with the children.

Birthday four

Four birthdays to celebrate at Happy House Kidz Club this week.
Twins Tumaini and Gift are now 14, Natsaha is 12 and Purity is also 12.
They each received a bag of birthday gifts and greetings from all the family.
Natasha received her gifts from Rukia (bottom left) , Gift received his from David (top left), Tumaini from Lucky  (top right) and Mama did the honours for Purity (bottom right)/.
Brian Hayward was in the hot seat as judge of the weekly sing-off between girls and boys.
After a little deliberation he chose the girls as the winners!

Degree of success

Congratulations to our Happy House social worker, Uncle Ronald, on gaining his degree.
Uncle Ronald who came to our family on temporary attachment in 2014 returning back to university to study full time once his time with us was completed.
Two years later we had a vacancy for a social worker and Mama invited him to join our staff.
It meant that Uncle Ronald had to complete his degree as a part-time student, a tough call whilst working full time. But he was determined to do it, encouraged and supported by Mama Sue.
An excellent role model to our children, Uncle Ronald has studied hard but never compromised on involvement with our children - they have always come first.
We send him our heartiest congratulations, and our thanks.
Well done, Uncle Ronald.

Our Magnificent Seven

The Happy House Hayward family is growing up fast.
It's a while since we featured the seven children who share Mama Sue and Papa's name, so we thought we would bring you an update.
The magnificent seven are the youngsters who have no known relatives - abandoned children or foundlings.
The first to come to Happy house was Brian in June 2010, followed by Harry in August that year.
Then came  David in 2011,  Esther in2012, Emmanuel in 2017 and Victor just this year.
This little family, within our bigger family, is thriving in our care. Each child knows how much they are loved and wanted and enjoy every day - well, mostly.
Just a the moment,  baby Victor is teething and a bit tetchy, but once those teeth are through he'll be all smiles once again.

Happy House warms Zambian hearts

The warmth, colour, music and spirit of Africa resonated in Blackpool Parks Art Deco Cafe when former students of Ibenga Secondary School in Zambia were guests for afternoon tea.
The women chose Blackpool for their weekend reunion in honour of their former teacher, Sean Gallagher.
Sean and his family lived in Zambia when he was teaching there several decades ago. The family now runs Parks Cafe
They all credit Sean with helping to shape their lives.
The women have gone on to establish good careers in many parts of the world.
Sean and his family hosted their tea and to the surprise of other visitors to the cafe, the women showed their thanks in the typical African way - through song and dance.
Our UK coordinator, Elizabeth Gomm, is a friend of Sean and his family and as she is a keen photographer Sean asked her to record the the occasion.
When the women heard that she was connected with their own continent and of our amazing Happy House they had a collection which raised £45.
They were interested to know more about Mama Sue and her work at Happy House and each went home with one of our leaflets