How Happy House changes lives

Rukia came to Happy House in 2010 when we were only just open. She had been used to living in extreme poverty being raised by her grandmother who struggle to bring in enough money to provide for her most basic needs. At Happy House Rukia has a lovely home with regular meals, a shared bedroom with her own bed, nice clothes and a wonderful education - first at our own primary school and now at the secondary school she attends. She has her sights set on being a journalist and is hopeful of achieving her ambition one day.

Busy keeping busy

Our children at Happy House had a busy half term. They spent their days both consolidating their learning plus having lots of fun activities. Here Jacinta is overseeing a schoolwork session which they all enjoyed,

Tomato growers

Two brothers are great little gardeners. Erick and Lucy have their own little plot in the Happy House grounds and their most recent crop is tomatoes. The boys have grown their plants from seed and now they are approaching the most exciting time, harvesting their crop. The fruits will go to the kitchen where they will be used in meals for our children. Well done Erick and Lucky.

Captains at the helm

Edward introduces the captains of two Happy House teams about to compete in a friendly football match.

Morphin leads one side whilst Saidi is the captain of the other.

Both boys have their sights on a win and do their best to fire up their players before the game gets underway

Keeping Happy House spruced up

In this video, Uncle Ibrahim is with Musyoka, Oscar and Brian re-painting the gate. The Happy House continues as Mama would have wished having overseen and inspired all the hard work, determination and love to make it a beautiful home for a wonderful family. So things have to be maintained and kept looking nice. This is only made possible with the support that we get from our lovely friends. Your help makes possible what seemed impossible.

Just swinging along

Kids at Happy House love the tyre swings we have on the adventure play area. So much so that over time the swings wear out and need replacing. That's what has happened now and as Harry tells us they are about to make new swings from old tyres.

A love of gardening

Happy house kid Oscar was one of the first children to join our family when we opened our children's home in 2010. 

By the time he was four years old he had already discovered an interest in gardening and, over the years, his interest has grown.

He likes to help out where he can and in this video he is in one of our mesh growing tunnels where Uncle Julius is rearing a crop of spinach for our kitchen to use.

Musyoka's "silent corner"

One of a family of 60 youngsters at Happy House, Musyoka has found a quiet corner where he can read and study. He retreats there after a long day at school just to carry on with his schoolwork or to read a story. Musyoka knows what it is like to live in poverty and is following the advice Mama Sue always gave her Happy House kids when she told them to work hard because education is the only route out of poverty.

Birthday treats

Meet the kids having apples, ice cream and juice treat. it was Charity’s birthday, so Brenda Groves, loved by our children as Auntyie Brenda sent a lovely donation and asked the kids to have a treat. Charity(pictured) chose what they will have and everybody was happy. It was also Morphin’s birthday ,so it was a party to the kids. Our visitors who came the day before heard about the birthdays and they promised to make cakes for both Morphin and Charity. Thank you friends for what you do, it really means a lot in the lives of these kids who once had no hope in life but of course with your support, the Happy House puts hope into their hearts.

Calling in at Happy House

Visitors taking a short holiday in Watamu from Mombasa were thrilled to meet our family at the Happy House. They booked for their stay at a villa on the same small complex that happens to be where Papa Dave lives. They had been talking to Papa who told them about the Happy House and promised call in. They very kindly made a donation that will go towards the food bill and we are so thankful for that.