It's a requirement of schools in Kenya to keep a record of the weight of children attending playgroup and baby class.And so this week, the monthly weighing-in took place for our little ones with their teachers making a note of their progress, which is checked by the local education office each time a representative visits. Md Nancy presents the video.
Half term week gave our kids at Happy House a chance to make some preparations for our 10th anniversary celebration on March 14. They have been busy making hats for the party day, using designs and ideas they have found on the internet.There will be some very fancy headwear topping off the big day!
With our 10th birthday party just a couple of weeks away, excitement levels at Happy House are escalating!There all sorts of exciting things in place to make it the happiest day - a real landmark in the the history of our charity, Children of Watamu, and our amazing Mama Sue and Papa Dave who started it all.As at most big family occasions it's nice to turn the clock back and look to earlier day by leafing through the photo albumAnd Mama is appealing to you, our friends, to send us the pictures you have from your visits to Happy House or those you might have collected of your sponsor child.The more we have the better, so please, please, email them to Mama Sue - sue@childrenofwatamu.net
We'll soon be on the road in a new mini-bus, thanks to you!Our fundraising appeal to buy a new mini-bus for Happy House School has reached our £25,000 target and our new bus arrived yesterday.It will be a little while before we can use it for school transport, as Papa Dave explains.It has to be fitted out with seats and be painted in the yellow and black livery, the Government requires for school buses.We are so excited, and so thankful.Our deepest thanks to each and every one of you who donated so generously to get us on the road in style.Our old bus was really on its last legs and costing so much money to keep running, this new mini-bus will make a world a difference.Thank you.
When the Happy House family gets together for its weekly Kidz Club nobody is left out.This week, wide awake and alert, baby James was happy on a mat on the floor enjoying all the singing going on around him.Kidz Club is always a special, happy, time when news is shared and this time, Janet, explained some how a few changes were being put into place to make sure mealtimes went even more smoothly
Brian was the very first member of our family within a family - the Happy House Haywards.He came to our Happy House family from hospital as a tiny baby, having been abandoned somewhere safe.As a foundling he takes the surname of our Mama Sue and Papa Dave because they are his legal guardians.Brian is a clever boy, good in school, and excels in maths. He is happy and very much loved by his Happy House family and by those in his sponsor family.
Our Happy House joiner,Uncle Charo, has been joined in his workshop by some young apprentices this week.The kids, on half-term holiday, have been assisting him with finishing work on the stools he's made for our new art room.They've been helping to sand them ready for the final coat of varnish so they can be ready and in place for back to school time next week.Khalid presents this video.
Mama Sue believes life is a lot easier if you know your multiplication tables.So we ensure our children at Happy house learn them from an early age and we have competitions and games to make them fun.Rukia, one of our older girls, was leading a times table session in the banda as one of our half term activities for the younger kids.
Every child who comes to Happy House has experienced comes from a troubled background.Most have experienced more loss and hardship than most of us will experience in a lifetime.At Happy House, we give them a childhood, free of fear, neglect or worry, we give them opportunity, love, support and education as they grow from kids into fine young people.Here John tells us a little about himself.
In our Happy House office, Auntie Velma and Janet are busy sending out exam results to sponsors.It's important to us to keep sponsors up to date with their child's progress and, of course, our children love it when they receive an email of congratulations or encouragement.All we want is for our children to try their hardest and to do their best.Janet, who completed her schooling last term and is now working on our team whilst also doing a university course in social work, presents this video.
During the half term holiday, Happy House kids are helping around their home.Some of the older boys have been helping Uncle Ibrahim, our maintenance man, with painting the wall that surrounds and encloses our ground.It's a big job and he's glad to have the helpers and they are not only enjoying it but learning new skills as well.
Bringing more news of the Happy House 10th birthday party next month, Mama Sue gets thrown of kilter by some very giggly kids.With AbdulMalik unable to keep a straight face she gets through the first half by saying how pleased she is that some of our lovely friends will be travelling out for the party and asking them to pop some jelly crystals into suitcases.After all, what is a kids' party without jelly to eat!She then makes a second appearance to appeal to you- our friends - for any pictures you may have taken of our children on visits to Happy House over the last decade.They can be emailed to her sue@childrenofwatamu.net If you would like to help get us on the road in style in our 10th birthday year please make a donation to our appeal to buy a new school bus - we are so close to our target and just need a final push! https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/buyabus
To a storm-battered old England, Mama Sue sends us a ray of Kenyan sunshine.She and a group of bubbly children bring us the good news that more than £21,000 of our £25,000 target has already been raised towards buying a new school bus. A new bus is desperately needed as the one we have is on it's last legs and we are constantly paying out for repairs just to keep it safely on the road.
If you would like to help get us on the road in style in our 10th birthday year please make a donation via https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/buyabus Thank you for caring and please share this post with your friends.
With less than a month to go to our tenth birthday, excitement is mounting at Happy House.
At Kidz Club, the weekly family get together, Mama Sue asked the kids if they were looking forward to it - to a resounding yes!
With half-term starting she said some of the older kids would be able to help spruce up their home ready for the big day by helping with painting and varnishing where it is needed.
But for one little boy it was just a big yawn!
In our joinery workshop at the Happy House we are lucky to have a skilled craftsman at work.Uncle Charo is a carpenter who really knows how to make beautiful and functional furniture.He is grateful for the machinery, bought through donations, that helps make his job easier.As he tells us in this video, he is currently working on making stools for our art room at Happy House School
Half-term starts at Happy House School today and our children are looking forward to a break.And it will be well deserved. They have all worked hard in the start of the academic year and have this week been taking their mid-term examinations as Mr Duncan explains.
Maintaining the Happy House, as we have said before, is a never ending task.
And with our 10th birthday coming next month, it's got to look its best.
So Uncle Ibrahim is now giving the exterior its annual coat of paint.
It really is a big job but it needs doing and once it's finished our Happy House will be sparkling in the sun again!
If you would like to make a donation to help towards the cost of painting and other work essential to our upkeep, please go to https://www.justgiving.com/childrenofwatamu
Abdulmalik took centre stage to lead the singing of one of Mama's favourite hymns at Happy House Kidz Club.He did a great job leading the action for "My heart is full and running over". There were also two birthdays to celebrate - Johnny who has reached 18 and Nickson who has just turned seven. Happy birthday boys.
Volunteer Fiona Lockyer has been teaching the children a new clapping song.They performed the song, along with the actions, for the rest of the family at Kidz Club.It's a bit of tongue twister but the children took it in their stride! Very kindly, Fiona treated everyone to a crunchy apple for snack time . Apples cost more to buy than locally produced fruits so they are a luxury for our family. Thank you Auntie Fiona.
Happy House will be 10 years old next month.
It's hard to believe how far it's come and how many children's lives have been changed in that time.
So if if there were ever a cause for a party, this is it.
In this video our inspirational founder, Mama Sue, invites you join in!
A bright and happy boy, Brian has been a part of our Happy House family since 2014.
He had been through a traumatic time before coming to live with us but soon settled in knowing that he was safe and loved.
Growing up in such a big family means he has lots of "brothers" and "sisters" and he is always ready to help out when needed.
Being a Happy House kid has given Khalid security he'd never known before.
He's now been in our care for four years and is a happy, confident boy enjoying life to the full - just as any child should,
The love of our Happy House family is its very foundation.
It was built on love - that of Mama Sue, Papa Dave and of all those people who supported their dream to make it a reality.
is the love that touches hearts of all those who visit as Malinda Rees and her sister Catherine Cooper discovered.
Melinda is a manager at the luxury hotel, Hemingways in Watamu, and prior to that worked at Turtle Bay Hotel where she was the wedding coordinator.
It was she who helped plan a wonderful wedding for Fiona Lockyer and her late husband,
Fiona , volunteering at Happy House, was delighted to meet up with Melinda again and to meet her sister Catherine, who is on holiday from Australia where she works as a midwife and where her daughter, Kate, is in training.
They visited the Happy House for the first time and where shown around by Papa Dave - our Number 1 tour guide!
Fiona introduces the video.
There was lots of fun and laughter as our kids got crafty with the help of volunteer Fiona Lockyer. At Saturday morning craft time at Happy House Fiona was showing them how to make colourful pom-poms made from wool.One of the older kids, Baraka, was assisting by cutting out the shapes needed so more of the younger ones could have go.
Mama and Papa are thrilled to have more old friends visiting Watamu and Happy House.Marc and Thalia Venturi, from Saltdean, near Brighton, were welcomed at Kidz Club when they also learnt the secret of our healthy, fast growing kids.Mama and Papa put it down to Moringa Tea which the children have ever day.It's made from leaves of a plant which grows wild in our gardens and which is full of many important vitamins and minerals. The leaves have seven times more vitamin C than oranges and 15 times more potassium than bananas. It also has calcium, protein, iron, and amino acids, which help your body heal and build muscle.
Some of our pre primary children were enjoying sports when volunteer Fiona Lockyer arrived at Happy House School. They were preparing for the upcoming inter-schools competitions and Fiona was invited to join in and spend some time with the youngsters and getting to know them better..
Over the next few weeks she will assisting our teachers by helping pupils with their reading and language skills.
Saturday morning was an arty and crafty time for our children at Happy House.With four teachers there to give them a hand, the kids had a wonderful time working on some fabulous projects including hand prints, making butterflies and paper boats and heart shaped mobiles.Janet presents this video.
Snap happy that's our Grade 1 children at Happy House School. Their teacher, Md Esther, took them out into the school grounds for a lesson in photography.The children were shown how to take photographs on the android tablets we use as learning aids, and then had a great time photographing the plants, flowers and, on occasions, each other!
Volunteers do much to assist our family at the Happy House in so many ways.Each brings his or her own set of skills and talents and in coming to spend time helping our family gives us the most precious gift - their time.Fiona Lockyer, and old friend of Happy House who has visited many times, is now spending eight weeks volunteering in our home and in school.Here she is introduced by Mama Sue.
We'll soon be on the road in a new mini-bus, thanks to you!
Our fundraising appeal to buy a new mini-bus for Happy House School has reached our £25,000 target and our new bus arrived yesterday.
It will be a little while before we can use it for school transport, as Papa Dave explains.
It has to be fitted out with seats and be painted in the yellow and black livery, the Government requires for school buses.
We are so excited, and so thankful.
Our deepest thanks to each and every one of you who donated so generously to get us on the road in style.
Our old bus was really on its last legs and costing so much money to keep running, this new mini-bus will make a world a difference.
Thank you.
When the Happy House family gets together for its weekly Kidz Club nobody is left out.
This week, wide awake and alert, baby James was happy on a mat on the floor enjoying all the singing going on around him.
Kidz Club is always a special, happy, time when news is shared and this time, Janet, explained some how a few changes were being put into place to make sure mealtimes went even more smoothly 
Bringing more news of the Happy House 10th birthday party next month, Mama Sue gets thrown of kilter by some very giggly kids.
With AbdulMalik unable to keep a straight face she gets through the first half by saying how pleased she is that some of our lovely friends will be travelling out for the party and asking them to pop some jelly crystals into suitcases.
After all, what is a kids' party without jelly to eat!
She then makes a second appearance to appeal to you- our friends - for any pictures you may have taken of our children on visits to Happy House over the last decade.
They can be emailed to her sue@childrenofwatamu.net
Abdulmalik took centre stage to lead the singing of one of Mama's favourite hymns at Happy House Kidz Club.
He did a great job leading the action for "My heart is full and running over".
Saturday morning was an arty and crafty time for our children at Happy House.
With four teachers there to give them a hand, the kids had a wonderful time working on some fabulous projects including hand prints, making butterflies and paper boats and heart shaped mobiles.
Janet presents this video.
Snap happy that's our Grade 1 children at Happy House School.
Their teacher, Md Esther, took them out into the school grounds for a lesson in photography.
The children were shown how to take photographs on the android tablets we use as learning aids, and then had a great time photographing the plants, flowers and, on occasions, each other!