Clever cook Pat Porteus has raised £400 for Happy House by making marmalade. Pat, from Blackpool, made and sold 215 jars of her tasty toast topper using 36kg of seville oranges. Pat had help to prepare the fruit from her husband, Brian, and friends Jacqui Veazey and Pam Platt. She made the marmalade in several batches and sold it to friends, with 60 jars being sold by her butcher, Nigel Wilkinson, of Holmfield Road. Pat decided to make marmalade for Happy House after meeting Elizabeth Gomm, our UK coordinator, in their local park and hearing about the work of the charity from her and also from learning more from two ladies who sponsor Happy House children at an aqua-aerobics class she attends. Pat said she liked what she heard and knew she could trust that money raised would be used to directly benefit our children. Elizabeth said: " We are very grateful to Pat for choosing Happy House as the charity to benefit from her marmalade making this year. "She puts in so much time and effort into making it and into selling it. "It tastes delicious so it is not surprising that every jar sells. "Our thanks Pat and to Brian, Jacqui and Pam for helping and and to Nigel Wilkinson for selling it. Thanks to all her friends who bought jars too. "Pat raised £350 (after costs) from sales but decided to make it up to £400, which is so generous of her. "Mama Sue has decided the money will be used to add four android tablets to enhance our children's education as those we bought already, thanks to donations, are proving so successful in engaging children in educational activities. Each is used by a group of children, so having more will let us reduce the number of children to a group." *We would like to hear from any friends who might be traveling out to visit Watamu in the coming weeks who would be able to bring out some goods for us. Please email: sue@childrenofwatamu.net"
Tables time
Happy House children have been having fun brushing up on their times tables in the holidays, but also have some organised activities to help them keep on top of their school work and to brush up on their tables. Here Rukia tells us more about it.
Ice cream and watermelon were a Saturday treat for our children, thanks to our lovely friend Betty Hatch. Clever shopper Betty, who lives in Essex, not only sponsors Stephano, she also sends out lots of parcels filled with lovely clothes that she finds at bargain prices. She never sends a parcel without sending a donation to cover the cost of import duty - which is so very kind. Betty and her son, Paul, visited Happy House in January 2018 so lots of our kids remember her. It was her birthday last week, so Betty contacted Sue and asked if she could buy a treat for the children - and was kind donated enough to cover the cost of ice cream and melon all round. Happy birthday Betty. We wish you many more.
The girls have again hit the high note at Happy House. They beat the boys in the singing competition that has become a feature of our weekly Kidz Club. Our kids all like to sing so it's an enjoyable time for everyone and making it into a competition makes it just a bit more fun. The judges were teachers Mr Nickson and Mr Dancun were the judges. There was lots more signing too with our ever popular Papa Dave taking a star role!
Plants don't stop growing during the holidays and need constant care, as our our agriculture students at Happy House high school know only too well. So they have been tending their individual plots during the break, ensuring the crops they are growing are nurtured and nourished produce the best yield they can. This project is one of the practical elements in agricultural studies for their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations.
Action packed programmes of games helps to keep our children active and healthy. Happy House kids love sports and as Rukia tells us that when it is a family even its much more about having fun than winners and losers. On the day they were filmed the kids sorted themselves into teams for a girls v boys tug of war, whilst also enjoying individual races.
Mama Sue today introduces a ne w of videos covering activities that have been taking place during the school holiday at Happy House Our recent series on natural health at Happy House was so popular we thought it would be good to give you another series of videos based on the school holidays. Activities include helping at home, e-learning and games. Our series starts tomorrow.
There were special visitors for Charity this Easter. Her grandfather and her auntie made the journey to Happy House to see the little girl they love so much but cannot care for. Charity was a dying baby when she brought to the Happy House by her grandfather. He had given up all hope of her surviving. Her single mother had died in childbirth and whilst devastated at the loss of their daughter he and his wife had tried hard to care for the newborn infant. But unable to find work in a country where if you can’t work you can’t eat, they could not afford to buy milk for the baby and were feeding her a mixture of maize flour and water. Her hair had turned ginger from malnutrition and she was limp and lifeless when, a a few months old, she arrived at the Happy House. Too weak to cry, Charity just wanted to sleep and the house mums had to wake her and coax her to feed. She slowly gained strength and within a few weeks she became alert and developed a huge appetite , Her grandparents stay in touch, visit when they can, and on his first visit, a few months after her brought her to us, her grandfather couldn’t believe she was the same child. He told Sue: “I gave you a dying child and you have given me a beautiful granddaughter.” Charity is now nine and thriving in our family and doing well in school. She is a Happy House miracle. She was thrilled to see her grandfather and her auntie. It is so important to our children to keep family ties strong where possible. Grandfather and auntie were given welcome by all the children at Kidz Club. To support the work of Happy House or to make a donation please visit www.childrenofwatamu.net
Pat said she liked what she heard and knew she could trust that money raised would be used to directly benefit our children.
