Lovely to be Loved

The chil.dren really have been insisting to see me, once they knew that I was home from Mombasa Hospital. Rose and Billy nearly had a riot on their hands!. As I am still too wobbley to get to the car and make the short trip to the Happy House we decided to bring the children to me at home, all 35 plus staff. Rose and Dave did a shuttle service until we were all together.  It was wonderful, it was such a fantastic feeling of being missed and loved. We all caught up on the news, everyone having a story to tell 'Mama Sue' The twins are just nearly ready for walking and Brian & Natasha rewarded me with big baby smiles.  I have only been away just over a week and the changes in the babies are amazing. Mwende was  busy showing me her pretty dress and Pendo busy looking for the biscuits. When it was time to go, Rose had to keep counting the children as they were hiding in the garden and around the house all wanting to stay with Mama. Evans decided he may as well stay until I was better so he could look after me and got quite settled down. 

 

It was a wonderful morning, lots of love, laughter and singing

Beautiful beach

The day before Sue had her accident we all had a wonderful day on the beach. The kids really enjoy playing in the water and having fun.

Brenda's baby arrives

On Wednesday the 21st of July 2010 the beautiful Brenda gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. Here baby are called names after the situation they are born into, as Sue and Dave were away ( any time you are away here it is called being on a Safari) the children decided between themselves to call the baby Safari. He is so handsome, Brenda and Fred are so proud of him.

That feeling of magic should be bottled

Lesley Pidock, her husband Alan and daughter Kathryn have just returned to the
UK after their first visit to Watamu and the Happy House.
The family, who are sponsors to Janet and Natasha, found the Happy House
everything they had hoped it would be and more!
Lesley writes: " The Happy House is a magical place and I would challenge anyone
not to be moved by the smiling faces, laughter and  family  homeliness  you feel
as you enter its doors.
That  feeling of magic  when you meet, and hold your sponsor children should be
bottled , it would be worth a fortune!
We sponsor Janet and Natasha  and we took gifts for both - I had asked Sue what
they needed. Janet's face as she opened flip flops, Crocs, sunglasses and a pack
of colouring pencils was as good as any Christmas morning in our own home. Baby
 Natasha was a little bit more laid back but Sue made up for that by changing
her in to one of the outfits we had taken for her!
Sue showed us around talking about her plans, hopes and dreams for the future -
this lady does not intend stopping! She is more inspirational in the flesh than
she was in the articles I had read about her.
We went to Happy House a few times  but the best time was when the children were
arriving home from school.  The tuktuk arrives and the children pile off, all
helping each other, they go to every adult in the house, shake hands and say

"Jambo". They go to their rooms get showered and changed and then head for the
homework tables where social worker Billy assists. It is so humbling to see
these little ones being given the BEST possible start to life, they have such a
positive attitude to education.
We had taken  bubbles, power balls and play aeroplanes for the children to play
with and how I wish we had taken more planes.  Alan could not make them quick
enough for them. If anyone else is going out they are just £1 for 12  in
Poundland  very light to pack. They loved them! Just  make sure your give
yourself an  hour or so before the children so they are made before they get
there, see the photo of Alan trying to keep up with demand!
The children loves borrowing our camera and taking photos of each other they
also want to see every photo  taken with a digital camera. The smiles on their
faces give you such a special feeling inside!
We went for a walk on the beach on Saturday morning and bumped into Janet at 
the Turtle Watch Club, the smile on her face when she saw us was wonderful and
we could not help but give her a hug and spend time with her. Such happy
memories for us.
On Sunday it rained most of the day, we were sitting around in the hotel, just
reading, when Alan said "We are sat here and we could be playing with the
children at Happy House", within seconds we were on our way armed with a box of
cornflour! we made GOUP (anyone with early years experience will know what this
is) , and what fun we had, Billy looked on in amazement and we played with the
mixture, the children played for what seemed like ages all enjoying the texture,
getting messy and generally having fun!

 

We are already planning a trip next year,
I have arranged a Party Lite candle party for friends, neighbours and work
colleagues at the end of August and all profit is going to Happy house, the
contribution I can make is small  but  if lots of us make small contributions
then together with Sue and Dave we can make BIG changes to the lives of these
wonderful children."

 

 

Aspinalls in Asia

Having done Australia - finishing with the sights of Darwin  (pictured at
Litchfield Park) and surrounding areas and a stay with friends in Perth the
Aspinall family are now in SE Asia sating with three nights in Bangkok where
they satyed in  a two bedroomed apartment, complete with ensuite ,and a lounge
area with views over the city .
Michelle says: "Caught a metered taxi to river, the Chao Phraya River, to catch
a river express boat ( 20 baht each/ about 40p) to take us to the Grand Palace
and Wat Po, where there lies the HUGE gold buddha. Then headed over the river to
Temple of Dawn-very steep steps to climb up, Billy and Ed went the furthest-I
couldn't look!!
MBK Shopping Centre-shops, shops and more shops, selling rubbish, rubbish and
more rubbish......
They've visited ther Floating Markets -120km out of Bangkok -- where women sell
their fruit and veg and barter away.
Michelle says "Maddie getting LOTS of attention-unnerving really. Everybody
wants their photograph taken with her-and I mean everybody, they come in droves
and ask can they have a picture with her, some don't even ask and just
photograph and video away, some even just try tp pick her up so she has been on
a tight rein  and has held hands at all times with me of her Dad, or even better
been on her Dad's shoulders. Not quite sure why they are so keen, and it is by
lots of different nationalities, not just the Thais. Generally Maddie has
enjoyed the attention and has coped very well with it-she particularly liked the
older schoolgirls who came in groups of 6-10 at a time to say hello-and would
wave at them when she would see them again-a regal wave of course!"
On Sunday, the family - who are taking the long route from Bolton to the Happy
House by going via the rest of the world - were setting off on their next leg of
an amazing adventure - Vietnam!
More news from there.

Sorry for no blogg

Hello everyone,

 

Rose here, we know you will be wondering why we have not been writing any blogg. Unfortunatly, on the 18th July Sue fell in the rain outside her house on some slippery tiles. She fructructred her hip so badly that she has had to have a complete hip replacement operation in Mombasa hospital. She also has a badly fructured right wrist, the good news is she came home on Monday the 26th and is not feeling too bad at all. She just feels she need some rest to get over the shock. The kids are missing her and ask everyday when she's coming home. You know as well as I do that it won't be long.

 

Elizabeth Gomm and myself will be working hard to keep the blogg upto date as we know how you all enjoying hearing our Happy House news.

Our Star Steph

Stephanie Hill is in the mood for dancing after organising a fantastic
fundraising night for the Happy House!
Steph, who raised £800 last year with a bungee jump off Salford Quays, raised 
more than £1,200 with a charity night in Poulton, Lancashire.
Nolan Sister, Linda Nolan, acted as compere for the night and showed a new
talent as an auctioneer, bringing down the hammer on some high bids for a giant
toy lion among other generously donated items.
Steph , helped by her mum, Bev Higham, and their very good friends worked
tirelessly to make the evening a huge success and netting as much as they could
for our children.
Steph you are a star and we can't wait for you to come out and meet our Happy
House family for yourself.