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!
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.
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.
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
Children living in the care of Happy House each have a memory box and nobody but they can look inside, unless they ask them to. It's the place they keep their treasures - letters , cards and photographs from their sponsors and things that have special meaning to them. The boxes are all kept in Mama Sue's office but any child can ask to look through theirs or to add to it whenever they like. Here Mama Sue talks about the importance of the memory boxes while a group of kids are all sat on her office floor with their memory boxes open and showing each other what they have.
Once the exams are over at Happy House School, the kids have a tense time waiting for their results. So it's always a relief when they know the their marks and form places are going to be announced. Last week teachers released the mid-term exam results where class 8 (left) won the best class and most improved class trophies. Class 1 won the best class trophy in the lower primary. Well done to both classes. This video features teacher Md Sipriana.
It was a win for the boys at Happy House Kidz Club on Saturday. The boys choir went into battle against the girls once again and hit the right note with this week's judge, Diana, who hailed them victorious. There were no birthdays to celebrate this week, so it was a time for sharing family news and a few songs. It's all good fun, and winners or losers everyone is happy!
