At a special school assembly, Mama Sue welcomed
our first 17 scholarship students, all of whom have suffered loss
and extreme hardship.
But all are young people who want to learn.
Education should be their right, but as for so many in this country it is
not.
Mama inspires with her words, she is proof that
with hard work, dedication and focus, dreams do come true.
Her Happy House was a dream and her road to
reach it has been far from easy but now here she is, her dream realised, and here are they.
These kids have dreams, career ambitions.
Mama tells them: ‘’You will be doctors,
lawyers, pilots, teachers because you have this opportunity of education.
''We are all the
same here, never think you are less than anybody else, but never think you are
better than anybody else either.''
Mama stresses that the scholarships come with
responsibility. A responsibility to work hard, behave well, to show respect, and to be caring of
those around them.
She explains they are now embraced by our
Happy House family. ‘’I will always be
Mama to all of you. All of your life you will be a part of our Happy House
family.
‘’All of you have told me that you have been
beaten by teachers. You will never, ever be beaten here. No one will set about
you with a stick, but don’t think there is not punishment here. There is. If you do something wrong you will be
excluded from doing things you enjoy.''
The young people listen intently as Mama tells
them of how no have no need to fear. If they have a question, no matter how
trivial it may seem, they need never be afraid to ask.’’
They have come to a wonderfully caring school,
with caring teachers and pupils.
Mama says:‘’We are going to get the best results of all the
schools on the Coast, we will lift you up to be better than the best.
‘’It can be done , if you have a friend who
doesn’t want to do his homework, leave him to it. He is the loser.
'' Do your best
always. You are here now with an education and can look forward to the future.’’
The kids leave the assembly and run towards class.
This really is the dawn of their new day.
Please can you sponsor the education of a scholarship student - 25pounds a month will cover the costs of education, books, uniform, shoes and meals. Please email elizabethgomm@childrenofwatamu.net for more details.
