Oh what a party!

Yesterday's first birthday party was just the happiest day, with the happiest kids.

All 56 Happy House kids were bubbling with excitement from the moment they woke up, eager to get the party started.

The outdoor staff had come in early to start decorating the gates and the banda with fresh flowers and plaited palms, breaking off for church, and then returning to finish a really beautiful job. Sue was delighted to drive up to see the gates decorated with a heart - symbolising the love everyone feels when they come to the Happy House.

The girls' had new hairstyles for the fashion show and after a morning of excitement, watching DJ Mr Bado set up and practicing their dance moves, the kids had an early lunch of savoury rice (with all the staff getting lunch too) , before showers and getting ready for the show.

We had set out all their outfits in groups and in no time the kids were strutting their stuff, just like catwalk models, in the "backstage" banda, while the guests assembled  in the biggest banda  to wait for the show to begin.

 First on were the babies, all on rocking horses, riding along to nursery songs.  Little Linus refused to leave his horse when their spot was over, so he and horse were pushed to the side where they stayed to watch the rest of the show!

Next it was the beach, looking ahead to when the kids are grown up and back, as business executives, visiting the Happy House. "No I can't come to Nairobi, I am visiting the Happy house where I grew up, " says Evans "but I have sent my private jet for you!"

From Evans, Sifa, Janet, Mercy and Maria on the beach to the wedding with bride and groom Rose and Hassan and bridesmaids Favor, Pendo, Mariam and Zawadhi. How lovely they looked.

 Then came the party girls, waving and smiling in fairy costumes. Lily, Salama, Karembo, Jemila, Mwende, Fatuma and Rose then sang ring-a-roses at the top of their voices.

Getting ready for the rains was the next scene, with our farmers off the shamba, siging Hi, ho, hi ho! Fakiri, John, Benedict, Carson, Katana and Mark looked the part in macs and wellies!

Looking ahead to the 2020 Olympics when the Happy house athletes strike gold for Kenya (hula hooping!) Musyoka, Francis, David, Oscar and Suleman showed just how good they are at hula hooping before marching off to Chariots of Fire!

 Then came our catwalk models :Shakila, Hope, Rose, Rukia, Mildred, Lucinda, Jedidah, Jane, Margaret, Mary, Franco, Patrick and Nicholas. The girls looking stunning in their new dresses and the boys, super cool.

The audience loved every minute, clapping and cheering. It was so good that after a break for cake and juice, the kids came back for an action replay to the delight of everyone.

Team leaders Janet and Evans presented Sue and Dave with a card from all the Happy House family.

Mr Bado's acrobats then entertained the kids to some incredible stunts … which Sue is hoping the kids are not going to try copying, until there's  a nice soft landing in place!

The day finished up with dancing, everyone joining in, while some of the guests were shown round the building and the nursery school.

It was a fabulous, fun filled day. How far we have come in a year and now, thanks to Sue, these kids who were living in such terrible circumstances,  have love, opportunity and hope … and the kind of worry-free childhood every child deserves.

        

Today is the day

Happy birthday Happy House -  and what a wonderful first year it has been.

Hard work, worrying, busy and, at times, painful but, most of all, rewarding because this is the year Sue's children came home to the Happy House land and brought it to life. 

Today's party is a celebration of all the Happy House is doing for the children - and it's a party for the children. 

It will be a magical day they will remember for the rest of their lives. 

The decorations are going up, the cakes are made, the  shoes fit, the kids outfits are all washed, ironed and ready, and rehearsals are over … now it's showtime for real and it is going to be wonderful.  

Shoe shuffle

It's feet first as today we're sorting out 56 pairs of shoes for 56 sets of feet, writes Elizabeth Gomm.

Shoemaker Francis and his team have been working against the clock to make, by hand, the party shoes we ordered for our children to wear for the birthday party tomorrow,

And even the babies have their own and they are just so cute.

Thank you Francis for being such a star and for giving us such a good price - we will certainly recommend your shop to anyone visiting here on holiday. 

The kids are still busy rehearsing for their parts in the show and they just get better and better. 

I can hardly believe how some of the very first Happy House kids, who were so shy, nervous and unsure this time last year, have now grown into confident and capable youngsters, eager to take on new challenges and enjoying doing something new.

That's the Happy House magic and tomorrow every person lucky enough to be in the audience will feel just a little bit of it for themselves.

Getting ready for the rains

In March, temperatures soar as Kenya moves towards the rainy season, writes Elizabeth Gomm.

Everywhere you look villagers are hoeing and planting, getting ready for the rains when everything will start to grow again. Every spare piece of land is planted with maize - the staple crop.

Here at the Happy House the outdoor staff, with some extra casual labour to help, are getting ready for the rainy season.

All sorts of vegetables and fruits are being planted  and shade created to ensure that the plants get the very best opportunity to grow and flourish.

This year will see our best harvest yet and all the food grown will go straight to the kitchen where it will be used to feed the children.

You can't get fresher than that!

And getting ready for the rains is the theme of a scene in our fashion show, here are our little farmers (Fakiri, John, Benedict, Carson, Katana, Mark) rehearsing for their part in the show… "Country Boy" Papa Dave has been giving them some tips!

Talent will out

What talented kids we are growing at the Happy House , writes Elizabeth Gomm.

Yesterday, we held a dress rehearsal for the fashion showcase the kids are putting on for guests at the first birthday party on Sunday and after only a few attempts the kids got the hang of what we'd like them to do!

But you never know what's going to happen when you are working with kids, and that's the fun of it! 

They'll let their own little personalities shine and that's just how it should be.

Our show will be unlike anything our guests have ever seen before and it's  going to be so much fun for everyone .

The children will leave no one in any doubt that our kids really are SO happy to be Happy House kids.

These pictures were taken by Samson,seven , using my camera  - as he is the official photographer in our wedding party scene! Maybe we have a future David Bailey in our midst.

Park Ladies

Thank you to the ladies of Cleveleys Park Methodist Church who made Lynn McCluskey so welcome when she went along to talk to them about the Happy House. They were so moved by Sue's inspiring story and made a donation of £86.59 . Some showed an interest in becoming child sponsors so we look forward to welcoming them to our family soon.

Pretty feet

Everyone is getting so excited as the first birthday party gets nearer. 

Today we are having a dress rehearsal for the fashion show,  just to make sure we everyone is kitted out and properly accessorised.

Milan, Paris, London or New York will never have seen anything like the catwalk show we have in store …

We went through every box of shoes in our store to try to make sure all the children would have something new to wear, but there were just not enough in the right sizes. And so as a very special birthday treat every child is having a new pair of sandals made by a local shoemaker who is giving them to us at rock bottom price. All the girls are having white and silver and all the boys plain brown leather. They'll look so cute and it wouldn't have been fair for some to have new while others would have had to go without.

Shoemaker Francis Mwena (pictured) came to the Happy House armed with his notebook and pencil to measure all 56 pairs of feet!

The shoes will be put away after the party so the children can wear them again for Auntie Rose's wedding in August, when they will be special guests at her family wedding in Yaa Village . A week later the Happy House will be giving her and her lucky man, Fred, a second wedding party!

Welcome visitors

The Happy House family loves having visitors and Sue and her team are only too pleased to show them around, writes Elizabeth Gomm.

As they walk around they can soak up the atmosphere for themselves and see just how much of a family home it really is.

Now we have the nursery school to show them too and they are delighted with what they see - the bright classrooms with equally bright children!

Every inch of the place is loved and cared for. By the time we arrive at eight in the morning the sand around the building has been raked and dampened down, so not only does it look neat and tidy, the amount of dust blowing around is reduced significantly.

On Monday, three Austrian businessmen, visiting Kenya on holiday, and who came to the Happy house last autumn, returned with a mini-bus full of essential items for the storeroom.

They had called last week and asked for a list of the things we use, Rose forwarded them the weekly dry goods shopping list saying any of the items would be welcome…. we certainly didn't expect them to buy the lot and more besides.

There was a mountain of goods - nappies, baby milk, shoe polish, flour, beans, rice, sugar, soap , washing powder, Vaseline, cleaning products etc.

So a big Happy House thank you to Herbert Strauch, Friedrich Schwarz and Franz Macho (pictured) for your kindness to our family. Your gifts will significantly reduce our household bill this month and we are so grateful.

It will make this week's shopping list for Papa Dave (pictured with Oscar and some of the donated goods) so much shorter!

Today we have had more kind visitors, Piera Laura, her partner Oscar Zanin and their son Mattia, who is four. The family (pictured), from Italy, brought a suitcase full of gifts - clothes, toys etc. everything much needed ad very much appreciated. 

They loved what they saw at the Happy House and Mattia soon bonded with the children in nursery and enjoyed splashing the babies who were having a fun time in the paddling pools.

Oscar, who works in the IT industry, was particularly impressed with the nursery school's computer room.

Piera was in tears by the time she left, she was so moved by the love she could feel… it is, after all, love that is our very foundation.

!