School Report: A busy start

 In the first School Report of the new term, Mr Mdachi reports :

Happy New Year to everyone from our Happy House School.

We are now in our second week of term. We started the school year and new term with high enrolment of new pupils especially in the kindergarten.

The opening assembly was led by Mama Sue who welcomed us all back to school. a

Serious learning started on the first day and our Primary Class Eight,  who will be the first Happy House candidates to sit the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education,  are already busy preparing for their national exam.

This will will take place in November.

Teachers are also very busy assisting the candidates, who are our pioneers. We are equipping them with the necessary skills needed for them to make Happy House shine come December when the results will be announced.

 We hope that our candidates will do us proud and Happy House will be known all over for best results and we shall be singing “Happy House power! Super power!”.

The Kindergarten pupils are also enjoying their new school. 

The Happy House family kids are excited  as they leave to go to school in the morning and back in the evening.This move has created a clear distinction between the home and the school enriching their life experience.

This term we shall have ball games activities and our team is ready hoping that we shall do better.

Our new teachers, who are very welcome, are settling in to the Happy House way of doing things.

Welcome visitors and WI talk

 Happy to be back, our wonderful friends Brenda and Red Groves arrived back in Watamu at the weekend.

Brenda and Red, who are in Charity's sponsor family, have been supporting Sue's work for many years and are regular visitors to Watamu, staying at Turtle Bay Hotel.

Brenda's brother, Terry, sponsors Brian and scholarship student Lovinne and granddaughter, Chloe, is in Said's sponsor family.

Brenda and Red, from Wantage, brought with them a suitcase packed to the brim with goods Brenda had collected or which were donated by friends including Tom Whittaker, Ann Summers and Jenny Kenrick and football strip donated by Barry Dawson which will be featured on the blog on Thursday.. 

Mama said:  "What they have brought is amazing, so many much-needed items. Nappies, sanitary pads for the girls, toiletries, shoes, pencils, books, knickers clothes etc. I am quite overwhelmed there is so much.

" It's going to be such a help."

Brenda and Red are delighted to be back and to see for themselves how the Happy House and its family has grown.

They were shown round our relocated school where Brenda had a chance to say hello to Charity.

Thank you Brenda and Red for all your support and your friendship. Mama, Papa and all the family are so pleased to see you again and look forward to Chloe's arrival later this week. Enjoy your stay.

WI welcome

There was a WI debut for Elizabeth Gomm when she went along to Ansdell and Fairhaven WI, Lancashire, last night to talk about Happy House..

In true WI tradition, she was given a very warm reception by her lovely audience who were inspired by all that Mama Sue has achieved in 15 years dedication to the children of Watamu.

And they were in awe of the sheer scale of the Happy House and the size of the family she has created.

With a WI donation, sale of bags and personal donations the evening raised £174.50 for our family, every penny of which will go to make a difference to the lives of our Happy House children.

Thank you.

Parcel from Ireland and birthday boy

There was great excitement when a parcel from Ireland arrived ... and no shortage of little volunteers to help unpack it!
The parcels, full of clothes, shoes, dvds, books and other wonderful items for our children, was sent by Marc Caron .
Thank you for your kindness, you can see for yourself just how pleased we are!

Sorry Ushindi

Apologies, today, to birthday boy Ushindi.

A slip of the keyboard reported on Saturday that his  younger brother Harrison had celebrated his birthday last week, when it was, of course, our Ushindi.

We are very sorry, Ushindi and hope you enjoyed your day and send you lots of love and birthday greetings.

Scholarship is helping me - by Francis Anangwe

  Scholarship kid Franco writes the blog today to explain his joy at being at Happy House School.

 First of all I take this opportunity to give thanks to Mama Sue for saving my life. 

When I was I young I lived with my parents at a village called Stendikisa. 

One day when my father came home he was drunk, immediately he entered the he asked for food my mother replied and told him that there was no food.

When he heard that he started fighting with my mother by the end my brother and I shouted out for help. 

People came and separated them, the following day they had to divorce and my mother went back to her parents.

 She left me and my brother in problem, my father took us to grandparents in Watamu.

One day my grandmother called me to come. 

What a day, today is a wonderful day, GOD has answered my prayers, my grandmother told me, the scholarship which I was praying for,finally you have get it.

The following day, I come to Happy House school.

When I came I was warmly welcomed by Happy House kids.

For sure, I have never seen a school like this.  

             

Mama's pride

 Responsible, kind, capable and caring, Evans is everything Mama hoped a Happy House kid would be.
It will be five years next month since he came to Happy House, one of our first kids, along with his elder sister Janet and younger brother Oscar.
They have blossomed from shy, insecure kids into lovely young people - clever and confident.
Evans is chair of our Kidz Council, a job he takes very seriously.
Kidz Council meets every week and is a forum where our children can bring up anything that affects their lives.
It also makes recommendations on discipline. If someone has been persistently naughty (which does happen!) they will suggest, to Mama, a punishment - like sweeping the banda for a week, or early bed!
And it works. The children listen to their peers.

With a recent influx of new arrivals, Kidz Council met with each one of them to make them feel welcome and at home, and to explain the Happy House way of doing things.
In the post-Christmas run up to the start of school, the kids were getting restless.
Evans took it on himself to organise all his brothers and sisters into groups for various activities to keep them busy.
They loved it!
With Uncle Billy and Auntie Rose on leave for part of that time, Mama had a lot to do and she was so impressed with the way Evans stepped up to the mark to be an extra help and her right hand man!
"He's so thoughtful and always there willing to help," said Mama, who rewarded him at Kidz Club this week with Star of the Week!
Well done, Evans, and thank you. You make us all very proud,
Also at kidz club were two birthdays - our youngest Neema and Ushindi who received birthday gifts from Uncle Billy and Mama..
Neema went straight off to model her gift - a beautiful new dress, but she has a little growing to do before it's a perfect fit!
Happy birthday , kids.

Helping hand from UK groups

There was a lovely welcome for Elizabeth Gomm when she went along to the Evening Fellowship at Bispham Parish Church, near Blackpool.

It was her first Happy House talk of the year, and after showing a couple of videos of the family, she brought the children to life with her stories about them.

The audience of men and women were moved by the work being done by Mama Sue and her charity to change the lives of vulnerable children and enjoyed seeing what a joyful childhood they have once in our family.

With a donation from the club and personal donations, the evening raised £65 for our Happy House family.

Thank you to the fellowship for being so welcoming.

Golfers club together

A group of Scott and Laura Webster’s  golfing friends from South Cerney Golf Club, meet each year for a Christmas Dinner and in six years the numbers of those attending have risen from 15 to 40.

They always have a small raffle for the Happy House,  which is so close to Scott and Laura's hearts, and this time raised wonderful £313.

Thank you Scott, Laura and all your friends for such a brilliant result!

Happy band comes home from school

 Harry, deep in thought, leads the way, while a while his Happy house brothers and sisters make a colourful stream as they follow in his wake.

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And the closer they get to home after their first day in our newly built kindergarten the noisier and more excited they get - chatting, singing and skipping along.

For our children, who, until now, had only known school on the same site as their home it is a huge and exciting adventure.

hey now have a short walk from Happy House to school at the start and finish of each day

And they are eager to get home to tell Mama Sue and Papa Dave all about it.

"They were so excited," said Mama "we could hear them coming!"

They now have a short walk from Happy House to school at the start and finish of each day ... and judging from smiles they are loving every minute!

Our primary pupils will follow in their little footsteps in a few weeks time, just as soon as we can get the new build complete.

If you help by making a donation please go to https://www.justgiving.com/childrenofwatamu/Donate/
If you missed yesterday's video of our new school you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTGluLn_RSw