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.

 

 

Happy Birthday Rose

Rose was 7 on Friday, we had a lovely party and birthday cake. In Rose's Happy House family there is a group called Grange Park Open Door, these very kind people donated £40 for Rose to have a bike for her birthday. She just couldn't believe that she had been given this beautiful pink shiney brand new bike. Rose also received some presents from other member of her 'family' that Lynn McCluskey brought for her.

 

Between the 23rd of July and the 6th of September we have 6 birthdays to celebrate. I have never had as much cake!

The Aspinall Family

 

Our intrepid travellers the Aspinall family are now in Australia having had a
wonderful time in the USA - where they did both NYC and LA.
They had a ball - a very expensive one - in Los Angeles' Universal and Disney
theme parks. Maddie fell in love with Minnie Mouse! At Universal they lerant all
about how movies are made and took an incredible trip on the King Kong 3D ride -
Jack really did think King Kong was there!
Mum. Michelle,  and dad, Ed,  took turns in taking on the bigger rides with
Billy. They went to Hollywood to see the street of fame - where stars have left
their handprints.
There was really chill out time and family fun at Venice Beach, and a splash in
the ocean.
On Sunday, July 4, they headed off  Down Under arriving there on Tuesday.
Michelle  says "We picked our hire car up and headed for the city...waiting with
baited breath to see the Harbour Bridge and Opera House-an amazing sight. I was
like 'Look kids, it's there....', turned around and they were all fast asleep.

 

They stayed at Sydney Harbour YHA, eating cheap noodles whilst looking over
the views from the roof terrace.  Then  it was out with the hats and gloves for
a trip to the Blue Mountains, named after the blue hue from all the eucalyptus
to celebrateYulefest- singing carols and drinking mulled wine -  going to see
some kangaroos and hug a koala on the way. "It's somewhere me and Ed visited
years ago so its nice to re-explore with the children," says Michelle.

 

What a fabulous time they are having exploring the world on their way from the
UK town of Bolton to visit us at the Happy House.

 

 

 

A Snake in the Grass

 

Never a dull moment here at the Happy House. We had just arrived this morning when the shout went up snake snake!!! Fred was trying to move Brenda in case she was bitten, the gardeners were all throwing stones, the Country Boy  was supervising...... from a distance! We called the local snake farm, they came and collected it. It was a baby cobra, the question now is are there any brothers and sisters and where is the Mum & Dad?

Harry Hayward

We have been told about a premature baby that has been abandoned in the hospital. The staff are not sure if he is prem or the Mum has tried to abort him. Lucky he is fine just very small weighing in at 1.5.kgs. He was doing quite well and then he had a few days of vomiting which has put him back to 1.5. We supply everything needed for him, baby milk, pampers, medicine, Vaseline etc. Hopefully if Harry will be home with us at the Happy House in the next couple of weeks where he will receive lots of Happy House TLC.

 

We were asked to name the baby as we did with Brian. I decided on Harry as The Country Boy's Dad was called Harry. My Dad was Harold so we feel it is a mixture of them both.

 

I will post a picture of Harry as soon as he comes home.

Blow me a Kiss

Saumu one of the twins who have been here with us since the 26th of May, is doing so very well, she is now waving and blowing kisses. Pendo the other twin can crawl and Saumu is really trying to catch up to her sister. It is such a fantastic feeling to see the difference we can make to the lives of the with your help and support.

Welcome to Sarah & Nicola

Sarah Jeffries and Nicola Venables were staying at Turtle Bay Beach Club last year when I did a presentation, since then they have worked so hard to raise funds for the Happy House. To date the total is over £1,100.

 

The girls arrived on Friday to see for themselves the difference their contribution is making to the Happy House Kids.

 

Louise Anderson is also enjoying her stay and is today starting to make a video of the Happy House for the website. On Louise's return home she will send the tape to Chris Franklin to weave his magic for the website.

Next stop LA!

The Aspinall family, heading for the Happy House via the rest of the world,  have had a fab time in New York and are now in Los Angeles. We are really looking forward to the postcard they've sent us from NYC , so the older kids can follow their adventure. We'll have to get the map out and make it a  geography project!
Michelle says: "The highlight for us all has been the Statue of Liberty / Ellis Island and Ground Zero. Lady Liberty felt like we were really in New  York and the history of Ellis Island, the immigrants and its descendants really struck a chord.
" Ground Zero was haunting, could have spent much more time here. The kids really took this on board and Jack couldn't wait to get back to the apartment to Google it and we all sat and watched various youtube videos and talked more about it-really special.
"Sat in Times Square people watching was great- and manic! Guggenheim museum was an architectural moment, National History Museum highlight was the kids shouting "GUMGUMS!!!" and one of the kids fave moments has been a kids water fountain that they ran around in and got soaked..boy did they laugh"
With rucksacks packed , next stop Los Angeles and then many more stops before they get to us at the Happy House , their final destination. We will have a huge welcome for them, and thank you to this special family for caring, for sponsoring Samson,  and for raising so much money for our kids. Happy travels!

 

 

Emailing: 3rd July 2010 009

Louise Anderson a student from Lytham High School, came last year when the school visited us here in Watamu. This year Louise has come as a volunteer, she brought a roll of pictures to colour, as you can see it is a great hit with the children. Louise will be helping in many different ways with the children, there is always lots to do and organise. On Friday we have another birthday to celebrate, so fun and games will be the order of the day.

 

Please visit our Volunteer Scheme on the website, we need your help and support. It is a great way to 'Make a Difference'

New Crocs for Mwendi

Lynn McCluskey brought lots of new crocs for the children, Mwendi tried every pair, large small and just right

Sleepy Time Kids

You just have to see this! From left to right, Saumu, Pendo the twins and Charity all full up to the top!

 

The changes in all three are amazing in such a short space of time. Pendo is now crawling, and Saumu is trying so hard to keep up with her sister. They can each now hold a biscuit. It sounds something simple, but the girls are a year old and should be doing so many things, but every day they suprise us with something new. They can both make the baby walkers go. Charity is a bit lazy, she likes to eat and sleep. She was crying in the baby walker, and did not want to sit up, just lay down. We laughed at her the other day saying ' Charity you will be here until you are 30, no one wants a lazy wife.'