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| Linda, Mama and Papa |
And knowing how much they are loved has really kept their spirits up during this enforced separation from their Happy House family.
Although they are in touch by Skype every day, and with the kids once a week, it is not the same as hearing the happy sounds of a busy family and school, or the after-school cuddles, or songs, from the little ones who make a bee-line for Mama's office every day.
So all the lovely people who have been in touch, or who come to visit, are just the kind of tonic they need as Mama continues to make good recovery.
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Among those who have travelled a long way to see her are members of Charity's sponsor family, Brenda and Red Groves, from Wantage, who brought with them some of the things that their granddaughter Grace had planned to take out to our family before her tour operators pulled the plug on her volunteering trip.
They came for a day and had a lovely lunch out together.
They are pictured right (on a visit to the Happy House) and Mama and Papa with some of the lovely things they brought.
Linda Newman, who is a great friend from Watamu and owns Girama Residence where many of our volunteers choose to stay, travelled up from the south to enjoy a Blackpool break and lots of laughs with Mama and Papa.
Scott and Laura Webster(left) from Royal Wootton Bassett also spent a weekend with Mama and Papa. They are in Rose Safari's sponsor family and visit as often as they can. Scott, who volunteers in our garden and as a keen horticulturalist, monitors and advises our gardeners on a cropping, pests etc on a regular basis via the internet. He brought a donation of £50 from sales of produce from his allotment, which he doubled to £100 as a personal donation.
Back at their home on the Fylde Coast, Lesley Pidcock who now divides her life between here and Saudi, where her husband Alan works, was thrilled to spend time with Mama and Papa.
Lesley and her daughter Kathryn enjoyed hearing all the latest news of the children they sponsor, Janet and Natasha, and all their brothers and sisters too.
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| Mama, Papa and Lesley, and Lesley and Kathryn with their friends. |
When Mama and Papa went to lunch at their home, Lesley gave her £37 very kindly donated to the Happy House by a group of her friends from Doncaster who had come over to stay last weekend, and who knew Lesley would like a donation for her favourite charity rather than flowers.
Other friends, who live locally, are also seeing as much of Mama and Papa as they can.
So while Mama is working as hard as ever running Happy House from a distance, with support of her very able team back home, and on seeking new avenues for funding with Elizabeth here, her social life is busy too,
She and Papa are very touched by all the warmth and kindness they are receiving. It makes their time fly and every day they are here, is another day nearer to home, seem shorter!
