Welcome back Auntie Coral

The family is happy to have volunteer Coral Blackhurst back in class,
Auntie Coral to our family, she had just returned from her home in the Isle of Man, to spend time in Watamu volunteering in our kindergarten.
Former nursery school owner, Coral provides great assistance by giving one-to-one support to children who need help in areas where they struggle. She is also a fantastic storyteller.
This week she has been working with a KG1 pupil who is struggling with reading, and we know that her help will bring results as it it has with pupils in the past who were soon able to read on their own.
Md Sarah, class teacher, has been working with her pupils to identify where they need extra help and to give them the support and confidence they need to forge ahead.
In playgroup, the little ones continue to learn through play and organised activities with lots of singing and stories to bring on their English.

Debating the issue

Learning to speak in public is a skill that will always be useful in lfe.

And so we have debating sessions on our school timetable every Wednesday and Friday.

The debates give students a chance to express their ideas on a variety of topics freely and in a reasoned way.

They enjoy the sessions and always do their best.

YOU can make a difference

With £2,759 raised we are 39% of the way to the £7000 we need to build two new classrooms on to our school.

We must start the build in November to ensure the new rooms are ready to open when the new academic year starts in January.

Please can you give today? £5 or £10 will take us ever nearer to our goal and help us to give kids from dire need a bright future,

To donate go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids
Thank you.

Happy hello to Auntie Dawn

Our family was delighted to welcome Dawn Heather White back to Happy House.
Auntie Dawn Heather, from Bangor, Northern Ireland, is back in Watamu for a holiday and the visiting Happy House for Kids Club was a must and she was greeted with our welcome song.
Auntie Dawn Heather was pleased to help  Papa Dave present this week's birthday children with their gifts.
She  presented Saumu Safari with her gifts while Papa  had the happy task of presenting Lydia with her gift bag. Both girls are turning 10. 
Welcome back, Auntie Dawn.

School report: Working hard

 With a re-play of the general election scheduled for a few weeks time, schools in Kenya will be breaking up in October this year, reports Md Sarah.

This makes it the shortest term in living memory and as it also the most important term of the year,  everyone is working hard towards achieving their personal goal - of passing end of term exams and going up into the next class when the new academic year starts in January.

Mid-terms exams have been taking place in primary and secondary schools, whilst the kindergarten kids have been busy with their own learning activities.

Practical skills

 Learning how things grow and how to grow them is important to our kids
Mr Moshe lead a practical lesson for class four where they visited the Happy House garden and greenhouses to see the different types of crops grown. 
The lesson led to some lively interaction and plenty of questions.
Please help

We must raise £7000 to build and furnish two classrooms for our secondary school by January,With your help we will do it. Any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

Training ground

Happy House is delighted to welcome Early Childhood Development Education teacher, Md Nancy, to our school on attachment.
Md Nancy (right) is looking forward to experiencing the Happy House innovative and different approach to learning nd to build on her schools.
Her progress with be followed and asessed by her tutor at Talea ECDE College, Md Mary.
Md Mary visited our school this week and was shown around this week and was astonished by the high standards she saw,
Mama Sue was pleased to meet her and to tell her more about our work at home and in school.
We need your help

We must raise £7000 to build and furnish two classrooms for our secondary school by January,With your help we will do it. Any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

Samson says thank you

Happy House kid Samson, who with his sisters Lily and Pendo have been members of our family since 2010, is always keen to learn and now Smart television is enhancing his lessons.

He writes:

I would like to say thank you for the Smart TV we have at school.

It is so good that you can search for things  you want to learn about.

Things like science - the human body, mathematics, geography and social studies. It also teaches us nice pronunciations of words and helps to perfect our English speaking standards.

We can also find out about other things, such as the great acrobats, dance movements, sports, news and African magic tricks..

Once we have seen them we can try them out for ourselves.

The small children learn from the cartoons, which help their English speaking,  and  when they are watch they laugh and we can see from their happy faces that they are enjoying themselves .

Christmas is coming ...

 You may not want to think about filling Christmas stockings just yet, but at Happy House we have to give Santa a helping hand.
Auntie Milicent, Auntie Velma and Auntie Rose have been busy getting Christmas bags sorted out for each of our kids living at Happy house, plus all those we have repatriated to relatives who will be coming back to spend our early Christmas week in the second week of December,
 If anyone is travelling to visit Watamu and Happy House in the weeks leading up to our family Christmas on December 11 and would like to take something for our kids,we do have a list of the items we need the most to make sure every child receives a new outfit of clothing.
If you would like to send a parcel, we would be grateful, but it would also mean a great deal if you could make a donation towards the import duty we have to pay when it arrives.
Mama says the following items are badly needed an:  Girls' knickers and boys underpants aged 1-5; leggings for the girls, aged 12-15 years; tee shirts for boys 10-15 years. 
We also need school bags, and croc-type shoes.
Of course we are grateful for anything, any colour and size, for boys or girls,  as we always have someone it will fit! We also need school bags, and croc-type shoes.

Table talk

Our carpenter, Uncle Charo, is busy making tables for our two school study rooms.
An experienced craftsman, Uncle Charo designs all the furniture he makes for Happy House;
He is assisted by Uncle Emmanuel.
The tables will ensure proper sitting positions during the lessons undertaken in the stufy rooms.
The workshop was very noisy when Mr Omoi called in to take pictures as they were reaching the stage were the pieces were being put together

Kids Council shake-up

Kids Council has been causing some concern as Mama and Uncle Ronald felt they were not performing their duties as expected, some involved in minor cases like not finishing teachers work. 

When they join Kids Council they know they are expected to be role models to the other children. 

Mama and uncle Ronnie agreed to suspend the whole kids council and  to start afresh.

Uncle Ronnie said: "We had a serious talks with them and Mama invited Evans who had been an active member and chairman of the kids council during his time at the Happy House Home to come along and talk to the group. He explained what a kids council member is supposed to be and above they should be loving and caring to all the kids.

In addition, I took them through the importance of being in the kids council, their roles and responsibilities and the qualities of a good leader. 
Mama reminded them how  excellent the previous kids council had been and that they will have to learn a lot from them, and with Evans as a mentor they can approach him during their free time at school for more assistance."

After the talk, four children were chosen to form the council:  Brian Isiaho, Samson, Jacinta and John.

There is still room for more to join when the time is right.

Brian, Samson, Jacinta and John will be meeting Evans and Uncle Ronnie for more talks and guidance just to make sure they are in the right track.

Fund grows ... but a long way to go

With just a couple of months until we need to start building, our Classrooms for Kids appeal fund is growing - but there is still a long way to go,
We now have £2689 towards the £7000 we so desperately need to add two new classrooms to our secondary school/
If you could spare £5 or £10 towards the build you would be taking us ever nearer our target. 
To donate online please go to:https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

School Report: Wake up results

 There was great excitement at  Happy House School as the results for the third term wake-up exam were officially released in the presence of Mama Sue, Papa Dave and Uncle Ronald, reports Mr Moshe.

Students did well and were congratulated, and class trophies were awarded.

Class Four (left) emerged the best class in upper primary.

Classes six, seven and one were all much improved on their previous performance.

Class two (right) received the trophy for the best class in lower primary and were thrilled.

Classes six, seven and one were all much improved on their previous performance but class seven (below left)  was awarded the trophy for the most improved.

Pastoral care

Every Friday, after assembly, when pupils are assembled in the banda we concentrate on pastoral care and moulding our family holistically.

There is a reading from the bible with guidance and counsel given using the reading as the theme.

This is a special time for students and staff.

Wish listIf anyone is travelling to visit Watamu and Happy House in the weeks leading up to our family Christmas on December 11 and would like to take something for our kids, Mama has a most wanted list.
The following items are badly needed and would be very much appreciated:  Girls' knickers and boys underpants aged 1-5; leeggings for the girls, aged 12-15 years; tee shirt for boys 10-15 years. 
We are grateful for anything, any colour and size as we always have someone it will fit! We also need school bags, and croc-type shoes.

Autumn update

What's happening at Happy House now and plans for the future - including Christmas - are all in the news Mama Sue brings to you in a special video today.

Please take a few minutes to watch it and to share it with your friends on social media sites.

We are making changes to children's lives very single day, and we rely on you to help us spread news of the work we are doing.

If you can help us by making a  donation to our appeal to raise £7,000 for two new classrooms (and no amount is too small) please make an online donation at:https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

Bella pasta

 Our kids had a chance to sample some authentic Italian cooking when our good friend Susanna Gregorio spent a morning in our kitchen.
Susanna, from Milan, who is guardian to Levian, who attends our school, cooked up a rich tomato sauce.
Sun ripened tomatoes are abundant, and she used the freshly picked fruits to work her magic which resulted in a very tasty sauce
Served up with pasta, it was a huge hit with out kids.
Thank you Susanna for giving up your time to come and cook for us and to show our cooks another way to make tomato sauce.
We need your help

We must raise £7000 to build and furnish two classrooms for our secondary school by January,With your help we will do it. Any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

The place to be, by Phillip

Happy House is the best place to be.

My name is Phillip and I am a scholarship kid at Happy House School/

I really enjoy the the Happy House way of life, It is not like anything I have known before.

Our great Mama Sue has done so much, we even have two study rooms with Smart televisions, this shows just someone who is really concerned about the giving her students the best chance to learn

These tvs are linked with internet whereby we are able to search anything we need to know in our studies.

Our brilliant teachers  have even taught us some life saving skills.

Most pupils are performing well because of the influence and courage given  to them by the school and specifically by Mama.

I would like to say thank you to her for all she does.

Please help

We must raise £7000 to build and furnish two classrooms for our secondary school by January,With your help we will do it. Any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

Welcome for our guests

 We had a wonderful kids club on Tuesday with the pleasure of having Linda's friend Teresa and her grandchildren present.
Our kids gave them a warm welcome to the family.
The kids were also reminded to work very hard to brighten their future. 

Classroom fund boost from Mothers' Union

There was a lovely welcome waiting for our UK coordinator, Elizabeth Gomm, at Preesall Mothers' Union.
The ladies, and gentleman, were both inspired and touched as Elizabeth told them the story of Mama Sue and Papa Dave, that led them to giving up everything to go to live and work in Kenya when the Happy House opened in 2010.
Elizabeth, Auntie Libz to our family, told them how it had been 10 years in June since she first met Sue when, working as a journalist, she went to interview Sue.
That day had also changed her life.
A video brought Mama, Papa and the kids to life.
The Mothers' Union group made a donation of £30 which was topped up to £122.27p by generous members.
This will be added as an offline donation to our Classrooms for Kids Appeal. taking us a step nearer the £7000 need to build two new classrooms on our secondary school by January.
Many thanks to them all for being so kind.
If you can make a much needed contribution to our appeal you can do so online by following this link https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids
If you would like to send a cheque, payable to Happy House, please send to Elizabeth Gomm, 6 Burwood Drive, Blackpool, FY3 8NS.
Thank you

Praise for Happy House

Happy House was delighted to welcome visitors from the National Oil Corporation of Kenya led by their CEO MaryJane N. Mwangi. 
They were impressed the work being done by Mama and her team and praised the excellent work being done with children.
They had made a donation of Ksh. 18,000  (£132) and promised to return to meet the kids who were at school the time they visited.
Please help

We must raise £7000 to build and furnish two classrooms for our secondary school by January,With your help we will do it. Any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

School Report: Making wise choices

Our Form One secondary students looked to the future when they had a careers session, reports Md Elizabeth.

Led by Mama Sue Uncle Ronnie and their teachers, the students discussed the many career possibilities open to them when they have completed their studies.

The importance of choosing their subjects wisely once they get to Form Three was highlighted.

Meanwhile, the primary section pupils sat their start of term "wake-up" exams.

Please can you help?

We must raise £7000 to build and furnish two classrooms for our secondary school by January,With your help we will do it. Any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

Hat'll do nice

 Hats off to Papa Dave.
He would keep it on, if he could, but the kids have taken rather a shine to Papa's new hat.
Papa's dermatologist has advised him to wear a hat to as protection from the sun, so he's bought a rather splendid fedora.
He looks very dashing in his handsome headgear... but he's struggling to hold on to his hat!
The little boys love it and all want a chance to try it on.
Here we have Morphin (top right), Lucky (top let) and David (disappearing) all having a turn at letting Papa's new hat go to their head!

Please can you help?

We must raise £7000 to build and furnish two classrooms for our secondary school by January,With your help we will do it. Any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

Will does a runner

GNR medal

Flashback to Leeds in May

Huge thanks to Will Gordon who, despite injury, has achieved his goal of completing two half-marathons within a few months of each other .
He also smashed his fundraising target of £2500 by bringing in a a total of £2670 for Happy House.
He made the distance in the Leeds Half Marathon in May with a time of 1:58:58 and yesterday he finished the Great North Run.
Will, who lives in Thorner, near Leeds said: "I ran through the halfway point in 56 minutes but my tendon went again at nine miles so I had to walk the last four miles and my chip time was 2.20."
Will added that he greatly appreciated all the messages of support and sponsorship he had received from family and friends.

Will is a half-marathon veteran, having  completed the same run in both 2012 and 2015 to raise money Happy House.

Will and his family have been supporting our family since they first visited the Happy House way back in 2009.  

We send him our love and thanks and hope his tendon is better very soon.

My hobbies, by Mary

Scholarship student Mary Pendo is today's blogger and she tells us about some of her favourite activities.
I have a lot of interests and hobbies. I like to dance, play football, listen to music and to read story books.
Books are important t me because by reading I can improve my language skills and learn new words which will assist me when I am writing compositions.
Some of the story books I read have information which helps me to develop critical thinking and also to help me learn the pronunciation of new words
I like dancing so much because it helps me to exercise and it is also so entertaining. 

Please donate today

If it were not for Happy House, Mary would not be in school because of her family's poverty.
Her scholarship is giving her the opportunity to make something of her life and to discover her talents.
It is for young people like Mary that we must raise £7000 to build two classrooms on to our secondary school by January.

Please can you help?

A donation of any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.

To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

Greetings for Greg

Our good friend Linda Newman has arrived back at her home in Watamu and popped into Kidz Club to say hello to Mama, Papa and the family.
Linda who is spending a several weeks in Kenya before returning to the UK, has brought with a friend, Julie.
Everyone was thrilled to see them again and Linda and Julie were asked to present birthday boy, Greg, with his gift.
Greg, now seven, celebrated with greetings and songs and he and all the family enjoy some biscuits,

Please can you help?

We must raise £7000 to build and furnish two classrooms for our secondary school by January,With your help we will do it. Any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

Gede head visits

Happy House School was delighted to welcome Stephen Nzuki, principal of Gede Secondary School, who had heard about our school and wanted to see it for himself.

He was impressed not only about the way our school looks and by its facilities but also by the excellent behaviour of our students and the commitment of our teachers.

He was extremely interested in the way we are using Smart televisions as and educational resource, especially when he witnessed a biology class in progress with students learning about the heart and the way it works.

He left by saying he hoped to put some of our practices into place in his own school.
He is pictured (centre) with our IT teacher Mr Omoi and deputy head Md Nelly.

Classrooms for Kids

We must raise £7000 to build and furnish two classrooms for our secondary school by January,With your help we will do it. Any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

Appeal fund grows

Two weeks in and we are £2168 closer to reaching our Classrooms for Kids Appeal £7000 target.
That's a brilliant 31%.
And that is down to those friends who believe in our work with some of the neediest children in Kenya.
And they want to do their bit to help raise the aspirations and provide opportunities for youngsters for whom education is the only way they stand any hope of escaping a future of drudgery and poverty.
We must build the two classrooms we need by January. We have the land, the plans and the knowledge what we don't have is the money.
If you could spare a small amount , £5 or £10, that would go towards building materials and, as we all know, small amounts soon add up to large sums.
Or maybe you could start raising money with a raffle or by selling cakes at work, or by setting yourself a sponsored challenge.
Hallowe'en isn't long now, so how about hosting a "Fright Night" for friends ,with a raffle and pay to enter gruesome games. 
Or perhaps your colleagues sponsor you to spend a day at work dressed as a witch?
Harvest might be more your time,  so a harvest themed coffee morning or Harvest Supper At Home could be an idea,
Please, please, help if you can. 
Our Kids Need US and We Need YOU.
Thank you to everyone who has given and to all those who support us in so many ways.
To donate please go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

School Report: Aiming high

We are now in the second week of the shortest school term ever known in Kenya and are pleased to report that all is going well in Happy House School, writes Mr Steve.

All kids and teachers are very busy by ensuring that we maintain and increase our high academic standards, 

On Monday we had guiding and counselling sessions with teacher encouraging pupils to keep on working hard in their academics to achieve the best results they can.  We truly believe that we have the potential to be the best in the county and the country.

On Tuesday,  Mama, Uncle Ronny and teachers had a chat with Class 5 Primary reminding all the the youngsters of the need to take their work seriously.

We thank Mama for providing kids for all she provides for children and young people who are thirsty to learn and to take the opportunities offered to them.

The kindergarten kids had   a wonderful outdoor activities session with Madam Nancy who is on attachment in kgs section.

We also thank our well wishers for providing us with the resources e.g. computers, smart televisions and playing materials

 which are really helping our students to learn

Please Give TODAY

*It is for these very special children who so deserve the chance to break free from the cycle of poverty they were born into, that we must raise £7000 to build and furnish two classrooms for our secondary school by January,With your help we will do it.Any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkidshttps://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

Tall order

The Happy House is a big and happy home for a big family of happy kids.

And keeping it up to scratch is an uphill task, there's always something that needs doing.

Uncle Isaac our painter has embarked on giving the exterior walls a coat of paint, having been busy varnish the new beds, made by joiner Uncle Charo, during the school holidays when he was given a helping hand by head teacher Mr Isaac.

Classrooms for Kids

We must raise £7000 to build and furnish two classrooms for our secondary school by January,With your help we will do it.Any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids

Making music

It's difficult to spend money on anything other than absolute essentials  when we are asking you to help us to raise the £7,000 needed to build two new classrooms for our school.
But when our music system failed and couldn't be repaired we had to replace it with a new one.
Music is not a luxury in our family, as you all know our kids love to sing and dance and they are very good at it!.
So Mama and Papa made a shopping trip to choose a new music system much to the delight of all our family at home and in school.
Mama is pictured here with IT teacher, Mr Omoi.

Classrooms for Kids

We must raise £7000 to build and furnish two classrooms for our secondary school by January,
With your help we will do it.

Any amount, no matter how small, will take us a step nearer our goal.

To donate online go to: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/childrenofwatamu/classroomsforkids