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.

Kidz Council

Mama Sue was always determined that children living in care should be able to have their say, and that their voices should be listened to. As a way of ensuring this happens she set up a Kidz Council which meets once a week to discuss any issues the children which to raise and to solve any problems. If the council is unable to take action or unsure of what course to take they could go to Mama and her team for advice.
Now, Mama is, sadly, no longer with us, they know that they will get good advice from Auntie Rose, Auntie Velma and Evans and Papa, of course!

Settling into secondary school

Moving on to secondary school is a big step in any young person's life. In the last video he made Oscar was telling us how he was looking forward to making the step into the next stage of his education. Now he has been there for a few weeks he is settling in well and wanted to update all our Happy House friends on his progress. He is grateful to his sponsors and all those who support our Happy House and for the opportunities it provides.

Welcoming our guests

Since the start of the pandemic, visitors to Happy House have been few and far between.

We love seeing old friends and making new ones, so we have missed them. 

They are always so generous too, making donations, bringing food and other essentials and clothing for our children, so it has added significantly to our costs.

 Papa and the children were delighted to welcome to some lovely guests who wanted to meet the family and look around the Happy House,  

Just a few few weeks before Mama Sue's death, Teresa and Mary from Watamu Women's Bank had been to see Mama Suet and having seen the good work that the Happy House does for the children said they would return.

It was a shock to them just like everybody else when they heard the news of Mama's passing, and they promised to visit the Happy House and bring something for the kids.  They were very pleased to see the kids happy and doing well. 

They brought with them four bales of flour,  a sack of rice and cooking oil.

Evans says " We are always happy to see new faces around and people are so kind to our family. it is nice to be nice and we really appreciate what people do for our big family. The kids sang for them a welcoming song and they were very pleased to meet the family."

A new member of our family

Today, we introduce you to the latest member of our Happy House family,  Peter.

Peter is 18 months old and was placed in the care of our loving family by the Children's Services Department who have deemed him to be in need of care and protection and as you know, Mama promised "there's always room for another."

Peter is a lovely little boy who had experienced hunger and neglect but, with the love of our caring children and staff, he's  now thriving and enjoying life as his one of his o big "sisters", Jacinta, tells us.

It costs £20 a month to sponsor a Happy House child and to help us to change a life forever. To find out more please email: elizabethgomm@childrenfwatamu.net

Being a room captain

Every bedroom at Happy House is shared by a group of children, with one as room captain. It's a role which comes with some responsibility and it's important that the captain has the respect of the youngsters he or she shares with. Here Tumaini tells us about the role of room captain and his own room captain Brian.

Missing international visitors

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Since the pandemic began in March 2021, the Happy House family has be missing all the visitors they receive from the UK, Europe and other parts of the world.

As Watamu is a sought-after holiday destination, we would often get friends who sponsor children or support our charity visiting and we would get lots of visitors who heard about us whilst staying locally. 

As Erick tells us they miss seeing visitors and look forward to the time when Covid stops making international travel so difficult and fried can visit once again.

Looking after Papa

T​he Happy House family has wrapped a comfort blanket of love around their very special Papa Dave. 

Since the loss of his beloved Sue, Papa has found strength from being at Happy House with the family they established. 

Mama always knew that should anything happen to either of them, the other would be looked after by the family, staff and children. 

At the weekend, Steve and a team of boys valeted Papa's car ensuring it looked absolutely perfect. 

"We like Papa to ride in a clean car," said Steve.

Making space for the new

Harry and his Happy House friends have been busy inthe garden clearing their pumpkin patch. Now they have harvested the pumpkins, which will be used to make delicious soup, they need to clear and hoe the ground ready to plant a new crop of vegetables for the garden

Helping each other

Jacinta works hard at school and tries to be a role model for her younger brothers and sisters at Happy House. After spending time with them encouraging and motivating them with their school work, Jacinta was out on the playingfield with them when they sang a song especially for you.

Academic clinic

Following recent exams, Happy House teachers held an academic clinic where they could talk to youngsters about their results. Involving students fully , collectively and individually, is the pattern established by our founder Mama Sue and one that will continue following her recent and sudden death. She was a wonderful mentor to staff and students, and our teachers have seen how talking to youngsters about their strengths and identifying any problem areas that need working on, can really improve results and morale.