Musyoka gets busy

Musyoka takes over the blog today, and a very bright and busy boy he is too.

Musyoka writes:

When there is time I normally help Uncle Josphat in the kitchen, to cook and wash the utensils and to sweep the floor.

I help Uncle to cook ugali. First you boil some water, then you wait five minutes and put half the flour, you wait two minutes, and then you put more flour. You take a spoon and stir it. You wait until it comes together. Then you can eat it with vegetables or with soup with fish.

I also help serve the snack to the babies, tea with biscuits.

My favourite food is kuku (chicken) and chips or rice and beans.

Abdul's birthday is a piece of cake

One of the very first day pupils to join our school community celebrated his birthday with his Happy House friends.

Abdul and Oscar

Abdul, eight, joined our Little Chicks Kindergarten not long after it opened and his mum has been delighted with his progress ever since.

We now have almost 60 children, whose parents pay fees for them to attend our school and the number is growing as word about the high achievements of our pupils spreads.

By having day pupils alongside our Happy House kids, we are assuring that the school supporting itself,  and entirely separate from the Happy House.

The school is one big happy family and everyone helped Abdul celebrate his big day. Kindergarten head teacher Madam Rose wished him a long and happy life and everyone sang Happy Birthday.

Francis, Griffin, Abdul and Oscar

After having his face decorated with blobs of icing for good luck by his best friends Francis, Oscar and Griffin, Abdul cut the beautiful, and very big, cake sent in by his mum.

Everyone tucked into a slice and then after more songs it was back to afternoon school.

Happy birthday, Abdul, and thank you for sharing your special day with all your friends.

Good manners matter

School meals and snack times run as smoothly as clockwork at the Happy House.

The children walk from their classes to the dining bandas, each knowing exactly what place is their own.

Even the tiny ones, follow the routine.

They then say grace before being served their meals, table by table, and every child says please and thank you. Mama  always stresses the importance of good manners

After lunch the little ones go back to Little Chicks where they line up for a drink of water, before having an afternoon nap.

 The older ones play out until it is time for classes to resume.

It’s a well organised operation with everyone knowing what is expected of them and is a credit to all those involved.

Off he toddles ..

One minute our David is Star of the Week for standing alone and the next, he’s taking four solo steps.

David, aged two and bit, has overcome so many obstacles to get to this stage and much help and encouragement has got him to this stage.

Star award  with Auntie Brenda

And as you can see from his face, he’s as pleased as punch that he’s finally stepping out alone.

Next stop … school!
Baby Athman weighs in
After just eight days with us baby Athman, who came to us a pitiful 1.5kg is tipping the scales at 2.15kg .
Uncle Billy says: "The little chap is doing well ..... watch this space!"

 .,

Our magic gets to work on three little lives

Helping hand

What a difference a week makes….

It is remarkable to see how Sudi, Abu and baby Athmani have settled in to our family within just days of being taken into our care and away from all they had ever known.

Doing well

To Athmani, at three weeks, and  so fragile at 1.5kg, where he was being cared for wouldn’t really matter,except without our intervention, at the request of his grandmum, he may not have survived at all.

He was such a poorly little boy, losing weight instead of gaining it, because his grandmother could only afford to buy cow’s milk for him and he couldn't digest it.

Lovely Sudi

Now he is on a special formula milk for premature babies, feeding well, and gaining weight. He is alert and very content.

Despite having lost their mum, who died in childbirth, just four weeks ago, Sudi, about four, and her little brother, Abu, who is around three,  have responded in no time to our Happy House magic.

Coming from abject poverty and never having been to school, they happily started at our Little Chicks the day after they arrived and were doing their baby class exam with the other kids two days later. Teacher 
Madam Helen says that they were surprisingly good at holding a pencil and colouring in..

Trick or treat?

Socially, the kids are absolutely at home. They only speak their tribal tongue, Giriama, but as this is the tribe local to us it is also the birth language of many of our staff and children so they are not entirely isolated..

Llanguage doesn’t seem to matter, anyway, as Sudi and Abu play happily without words , taking their their lead from their playmates.  At mealtimes, they copy by putting their hands together when it is time for grace,eating with cutlery etc.

Their new Happy House brothers and sisters are their guides to their new world – they have shown them how to use their toothbrushes,to  take a shower and to use the toilet, all of which were alien to them.

Smiles better

Abu and Sudi had their first taste of ice cream on Monday, it was an Easter treat for the family.  Abu wasn’t sure what to make of it, when he tried the first spoonful he winced at the unexpected cold. But after a few more tries, flavour triumphed over sensation and he ate the lot, as did Sudi.

To see how this little trio are blossoming is a testimony to the wonderful family Mama has created.
It is heartwarming and such a privilege to be a part of it.

Welcome to our family

 Visitors Maureen Burgess and Alan Andrews couldn’t believe their eyes when they came to visit our Happy House.

They had heard all about it from friends Brenda and Red Groves, also staying at Turtle Bay, but it far exceeded anything they had expected.

Maureen, who happens to know Red from her farm shop in Wantage where he buys horse feed , was on holiday with Andrew at the same time as Red and Brenda by sheer coincidence.

It was lucky for us. Brenda brought them to look around and they were totally bowled over by it and very inspired by Mama Sue’s wonderful story. They were only sorry that they were unable to meet her.

Both are joining our family of child sponsors and we hope they will come back to see again soon.

Alan and Andrew are pictured with Harrison, Mwende, Saumu and Ushindi

Spring chorus and Mama on the mend

The Happy House spreads its magic everywhere. 

Uncle Billy and Auntie Libby took an enthusiastic party of kids, our line dancing troupe, to Hearts Children’s Home for a celebration day for the new network of children’s homes, which also aimed to raise awareness amongst the local community in the hope of encouraging businesses to donate foodstuffs to the help the homes..

There were the obligatory speeches from some very important people including the District Officer the Chief of Police, and Uncle Billy, who played such a big part in setting up the network.

Our kids, looking so smart and bright in their Happy House t-shirts, black shorts and red cowboy hats, were the first of the children’s homes represented to entertain and everyone was thrilled by their line dancing display.

Soon afterwards we boarded the matatu and headed for home.  
Our kids, so full of energy, were still in full voice…. getting louder and louder the nearer home we got.

By the time our bus turned into the Happy House gates the little ones, alerted by the sound of their brothers and sisters singing, had gathered and were jumping up and down, singing too.

If we could only bottle this love of life and pure happiness, our Happy House would never be short of a shilling again.

Mama on the mend

Mama is now home from hospital and recovering from the severe infection that caused has caused her so much pain and which meant that she and Papa Dave were unable to travel back to Kenya to celebrate Papa's 70th birthday on Thursday with the kids.

It's been hugely disappointing for them and for all the family, but Mama , who thanks everyone for their kind messages,  is well on the way to recovery  after being treated with intravenous antibiotics.