Wednesday 8 September 2010

The Aspinall Family

Michelle Aspinall and her family have been a fantastic support to the happy House in many different ways, from sponsoring children to raising large donations. It was our pleasure to welcome them into the Happy house Family. This is what Michele has to say about their experience.
 
 We arrived at the Happy House after our very long way round the world, met my Mum here in Watamu for a week. We sponsor Samson, my Mum sponsors Pendo and my brother sponsors Fatuma. Initially, it was about meeting ALL the Happy House children, not just our sponsored children, because they are all as deserving as each other. Their trust in us very quickly grew. They would high five us returning from school, come up for cuddles, hold our hands, and even play with my long blond hair! Our three children, Billy, Jack and Maddie, have enjoyed the various aspects of the Happy House...serving the kids lunch, playing on the bikes with them, playing with the babies, seeing how they live their lives. They have seen first hand where the £2000 we all raised ( big contribution from their school, Markland Hill) has gone-wages, food, medical supplies, 10 bikes, and the never ending consumables of nappies, toilet roll and milk!!! Ed has contributed to helping build the new chicken run, with Gideon, Fred and Moses-all really good, sound workers as Ed says. I have been fortunate to spend the day with Billy, the social worker, visiting the hospital with little Brian, having a look at their maternity department where he was abandoned, a sneak look at the physiotherapy department ( I am a physio myself), then the Children's Probation office, register office and then finally a home visit to a family of 7, with triplets. It really brought it home to me that the issues in the Happy House are widespread, they are about keeping families together. We have really enjoyed our time here at the Happy House, and we will continue to support the children in their future needs. Thanks Sue and Dave for the opportunity to experience this. We look forward to the continued developments, and will really miss the children after nearly 2 weeks with them.