Four year old Benedict, orphaned by the death of his mother two months earlier, became our very first Happy House child.
And with his arrival, Sue's long held vision of creating a home where children in need would be safe and loved, where they could "go to sleep in a bed and wake up to a breakfast, every day", became a reality.
Remarkably, it had only three years for Sue and her ever-supportive husband, Dave, to raise the money, find the land and complete the Happy House build.
On that day in February, 2010, when Benedict became the very first Happy House kid, it was a very different place from the one it is now. Under Sue's watchful eye and constant guidance, it has grown, and developed, just like her family!
By the official opening in March that year, Benedict had been joined by 27 brothers and sisters.
Now there are 106 children in our family. Every one of them a life transformed by our Happy House and its magic.
Benedict no longer lives at Happy House.
He came to us from a relatives distraught with grief and with no means of providing for a motherless child. They kept in touch and visited, and by mid-2012, they had turned their lives around and were in a position give him a home.
After day visits, then more prolonged trips, and it was obvious that Benedict was happy and would be both loved and supported, he went home for good.
We still see him every day! He attends our school where he is doing well.
We gave Benedict a stable, happy, family life when he, and his family, were in greatest need.
Whether a child needs us for a few weeks, months, or for their entire childhood, it makes no difference to amount of care and love they receive.
Each child is loved and cherished as if he or she were any only one. No matter how big our family gets, that is how it will always be.
Benedict was the first child in a brand new Kenyan family, and, as we predicted at the time, it is the happiest family in all of Kenya!
