Birthday bonus for Beccy

Today we welcome to our family our first sponsor from New Zealand, Beccy Jones-Orcon.

Beccy who has timed her first payment to coincide with her birthday came across our small charity in an unusual way.

Searching Facebook for two old friends - one called Sue Hayward and the other called Elizabeth Gomm - she just happened across Sue and I (she thought Sharon might be related to me) saw that we we had the Happy House in common and decided to take a look!

Beccy says:

"I had thought about sponsoring a child for many years, but the only places I'd come across were kind of places where it felt like you were just donating your money and that was all - not that it is wrong for people to just donate money, but I am the kind of person who wants to have a slightly more involved feel to it, and on a more personal level... where I (and my family) could write to the child, hear news of the child, send little gifts and maybe (if I ever won the lottery) even visit where the child lives.

It was just so wonderful when I found Happy House... I just KNEW it was the right place, and of course the little children's faces all won me over.

I also thought it would be wonderful for Anoushka  (we call her Nou) ,who is five, to have a 'sister'. She has four brothers.

Also I thought it would be an excellent way for her to learn about life in a different country, how different children live, how people's lives can be so vastly different because of many different circumstances, and of course to reinforce just how lucky she is that she has the life she does and to reinforce the usual life's lessons of being loving, giving and respectful of people whatever the their lifestyle."

Beccy, married to Wes, is celebrating her birthday today by adding a Happy house child to her family.

"I am also going to be celebrating it by buying some little sticker books or something similar that I can send over in a parcel for the children.  And as soon as I know what my sponsored child's name is, you can be sure that I will be writing and enclosing a little gift and some photos too.  I am also going to be hunting out those calcium drops too....

Anoushka is so excited and has been telling all her friends at school that she is going to be 'loving a little girl in Kenya'."

Happy birthday and welcome to our family Beccy with lots of love and smiles from all the family at the Happy House.

*Pictures show Beccy with Wes, Anoushka with a cake she helped to bake for Father's Day and Beccy with Anoushka (now five) and sons Simeon (now 10), Thomas (now 20) and Jordan (now 18).

 

 

 

 

Our lost gem is now found

Many of you comment on how healthy and happy our children look when you see their pictures on the website and the blog.

They look like any other well-fed, cherished, little beings as they play and learn together at the Happy House.

But they have, each one of them, come to us in a very poor state - hungry, poorly, frightened and dirty.

Some have been beaten or abused,  fending for themselves, abandoned or bereaved.

Working at the Happy House is far from easy. It can be excruciatingly difficult and worrying as has been the case over the past few weeks with one of our girls.

As Kenyan law requires, we do keep in contact with any blood relatives our children may have and also allow, again as required, home visits when it is considered safe to do so. But they do not always work out as they should and in this most recent case, we have had great difficulty getting the child, who came to us from a rescue centre and is committed through the courts to our care, returned to her Happy House family.

Social worker Billy, who has worked in this field for 15 years, explains what happened: "As a matter of policy and as a best practise, we value keeping the family contacts between our kids and their relatives, but this time this well-meant gesture put us on a rollercoaster of worry.

On August 11 we had a meeting with relatives of children and after good deliberations of how best to join hands in making a difference in the lives of the kids through full participation by all interested parties,some felt that they would like to sign their kids out for a week's stay since it was school holidays,

One of our girls was released to the mother against the grandmom's identity card, since she iss the one best known to all of us. The biological mom had re-surfaced after her daughter has been at the Happy House for 17 months!

There were no known relatives during her admission as she was a case referred from a rehabilitation centre 110kms away. Her committal order was made from there and put her in our custody until she is 18 - the rules have been recently revised to three years at a time. She was signed out on August 18 for one week.

The following day I started two weeks leave.

To our dismay, she was never returned as agreed.

Mama Sue and Aunty Rose were immediately on the case but kept receiving false promises of a return on a tomorrow which never came.

A week later, the mum turned up, without the child, reporting that she was down with pneumonia and hence unable to come back home.

Before even giving a proper explanation, she vanished out of the compound

I had to be involved despite being away since the matter was getting more severe by the minute. I made a few calls to the aunty (who lives locally) who later led me to the mom whereby I pleaded with them to go and obtain an extension of the stay since they were now citing the Festival of Eid as the limiting factor.....never mind that all this time we didn't have a clue of the kid's whereabouts and no one offered to say where on earth she was! She is only seven for crying out loud!

At this point we had to involve the Children's Officer in charge. During our phone discussion, he offered that the family had previously visited his office saying that they were now capable of taking care of their child. Apparently he had advised them to first honour the existing agreement by first bringing her back and subsequently making a fresh application for exit.

According to the recent developments, they would have none of that.

We had no choice but to go full throttle, going back to the Children's Officer with a letter of complaint; copies of all relevant documentation attached. When he saw the gravity of the matter he advised us to liaise with the police who would help in reclaiming the child since the committal order was clear that she was under our legal care

This led us to the Watamu Police Station, who offered full support firstly by trying to negotiate with the relatives for an amicable solution. The mum had turned her phone off from the time the Children's Officer had tried to call and this time it was the girl's aunt who took a call and pledged her support for us, angry that the mother and daughter had left her house late at night without saying a word. We were given a letter from Watamu Police to take to the police in Malindi as this is where they were now thought to be.

With two officers from Malindi Police, Mama and I went door to door in strange environs in search of our loved one.

After a frantic search, we found her in a slum with her mom and younger brother (less than a year old) plus other relatives in a single room with a mattress spread in the middle of the room and with no other furniture in sight. Cooking was done out in the open air.

Our main aim was to take her home and on seeing Mama and I she was overjoyed and went straight into her arms hugging her lovingly.

She had surely longed to be with her Happy House family.

There was a lot of defence coming from the mom after falling out with the "aunt" but these were in the least of our worries. Once we got our little girl securely in the car, we called Papa Dave and the duty housemum to tell them we were headed home ... our lost gem now found.

When we hooted at the gate, all the kids were out in the side steps singing and dancing their "welcome" song to their returning sister. It was an emotional re-union.

Most important, our little girl is safe and glad to be back home.

This morning she was the happiest in the school assembly making us all feel a great sense of achievement. All the worry had been worthwhile."

Testing times

Boys will be boys but there are times when a child's behaviour can go beyond playfulness and become unacceptable both to the other children and to the adults in the family.

And sometimes it can also result in injury, which is exactly what has happened at the Happy House.

Francis and his elder brother, Musyoka, both very bright little boys, much loved members of our family, who, with little sister Mwende, have been with us for more than a year now.

The two boys have been particularly challenging in recent weeks to the extent that Uncle Billy and Mama Sue have had to take serious steps to try to make them see how their bad behaviour is affecting other members of the family.

Their naughtiness has gone beyond the boundaries and with 54 children in the family there have to be house rules to ensure the family runs smoothly.

Francis and Musyoka have been on early bed as one of the measures taken to try to curb their behaviour but on Friday when the other boys who share his room arrived at the usual bedtime Francis took a leap from a top bunk (not even his bed) and fractured his arm!

Sue says: "We know only too well that boys are boys but they just take that one.... no, three, steps beyond. We keep telling Francis "We love you but not your behaviour".

Billy took Francis straight to Dr Joseph Katana's Clinic where he was examined immediately. Sue and Dave, who had been at home, met them there.

Sue adds: "Dr Joseph thought it was fractured but it was too late in the day, 9pm, to take him to hospital in Malindi as an A&E department doesn't really exist. He put a splint on his arm and Francis, insisting it didn't hurt, said he was fine."

On Saturday at 8am Sue and Billy took him straight to Tofiq Private Hospital, taking along Lucinda, Maria, Hassan & Katana to give Francis some moral support and encouragement.

The X-ray confirmed two fractures, Doctor Helen Wambui said what a good job Dr Joseph had done with the splint. Francis's arm was put in plaster which he'll be wearing for the next four weeks.

Sue says that she and Billy hope this experience might be a wake up call for Francis and Musyoka.

She said they are anxious to ensure that both Francis and Musyoka learn to respect their brothers and sisters, and the housemums and aunties, and to understand the difference between playful pranks and  the downright bad behaviour they have been exhibiting.

Musyoka is such a clever little boy that he could be seen as a role model by others and lead them astray.

As you know we never stint on our children's health and always get the fastest and best treatment for them, but this comes at a cost. In this instance Francis trip to hospital has, so far, cost 2,200 shillings ...just over £20.

Tasty treat

Apples are a quite expensive in Kenya and not something the kids often get at the Happy House but on the way to hospital Sue spotted a roadside stall selling them and bought a bag for the children to have on the way home.

" I had a plastic bag that they had come in so used it to ask for rubbish, pips, etc. Everyone put bits and pieces in I looked at Katana & Hassan, they had nothing left not even the stalk or a pip! They looked at each other as if to say: What should we have had left ?

 There we go then!"

 

The £3 Challenge!

What can you get for £3?  That's the question our good friend and regular Happy House volunteer, Dawn Heather White, has been asking her colleagues in Ireland.
When the summer sales started Dawn Heather asked them to support her £3 Challenge - an idea you might like to follow. 
Dawn Heather appealed: "Now that the sales have started there are lots of things you can get that would help the children in the Happy House Childrens' Home. My plea to you is, when you are doing your weekly shop in Tesco or Asda, or when you are browsing in Primark or Heatons, can you  please put one item of clothing into your trolley costing £3 or less for me to bring to the Happy House when I go back at the end of October?
"I bought boy's black jeans for 50p a pair in Primark, t-shirts for £1 and, in Tesco, checked boys' shirts for £2. Sports Direct were doing Mary Jane crocs for £2 (although I think I cleared them out of their stock). Heatons regularly has a £1 rail where I managed to buy £52 worth of clothing for £10. M&S had girls dresses reduced from £20 to £3. This is the time of year for a bargain!
 "Next time you are shopping, please put one item of clothing into your trolley, costing £3 or less. It will make a big difference to a Happy House child."

Dawn Heather and her friend and colleague Judith Carson, who also volunteered at the Happy House this year, are collecting in all the very generous donations that have been pouring in. Some have been posted out our as pictures show ... the parcels with donors in Ireland and arriving with our family at the Happy House. The rest Dawn Heather will be taking with her next month.

She is thrilled with the way her generous colleagues are responding to her appeal: "When I went back to the Happy House in April this year I was amazed by how much all the children had grown in the five months since my previous visit.

" Obviously the vitamins they ar etaking combined with the healthy food prepared by Habel make a big difference to the childrens' development. I also noticed how some of the children were growing out of their clothes so I decided to make the most of the sales when I returned home.

"When I got back I sent out an email to various departments called The £3 Challenge. I asked people what they could buy for £3 - a pint of beer? A burger? and suggested that they put something for £3 or less into their shopping trolleyfor me to bring to the Happy House.

" I had no idea how successful my email would be or how many people would rise to the challenge. One person told me I had tapped into her whole family's 'shopping gene' and arrived in with 20 t-shirts from one of her sisters plus several bags of clothes from herself and her mother!

" I sent the email out in early July and, now,  weeks later, people are still arriving at my office with bags of clothes.

"Only this morning while I was writing this  a woman from our finance department brought in a bag with two pairs of trousers, five skirts, eight tops, five pairs of shorts and three cardigans all from the M&S sale and told me her sister has another bag of clothes to send in

"I have been delighted although not surprised by peoples' generosity as everyone I work with has been incredibly supportive of any fundraising events I have organised since I first got involved with the Happy House.

" It's been several weeks now since I was able to see the floor of my spare bedroom as I have piles of clothes divided by age and gender and, instead of decreasing as I send out parcels, the piles keep growing! I think what makes the difference is that people know everything they give goes straight to the children and, each time I return from a visit, I am able to show them photographs and tell them stories about all the little characters who make up the Happy House family."

Sue and the family are thrilled and touched by this overwhelming generosity. " As Dawn Heather says our family grows so fast and new clothes are something very special to them.  They come to us with just what they are standing up in so to have new clothes, specially a whole new outfit, is something very special to them.  All these lovely clothes will be a great help when we are sorting our Santa's 2011 Happy House delivery!"

Thank you  and lots of love to Dawn Heather and all her colleagues and friends .. and, indeed, to their family and friends too for crossing the miles to bring us smiles.

Concern for David

Worried about how baby David has not yet reached some of his developmental milestones, and also showing signs of a chest infection, Mama Sue took him to straight to see a private specialist paediatrician in Malindi.

Sue explains: " David was born last December so he should be sitting up and holding his head up,as he was eight weeks prem we expect some delay.

The  paedriatrican was not too worried as he is feeding well, we get him special Cow & Gate prem baby food and he loves it.

She does think, however, that he has has the early signs of rickets, so has given him some extra calcium syrup. His blood count was also low. 

We have antibiotic syrup for his chest and have an appointment to take him back to see her.

He is such a good baby, he will catch up, Our Miracle Harry did. "

We have appealed for calcium supplements and syrup before, but this really highlights the importance of it once again.

We little medical history for many of our children, none for abandoned babies like David, so there is little indication of the health of his parents or of any possible inherited condition, which means we, as a family, must always be on the alert for any possible problem.

And as we have said, so many times before, we will never stint on our children's health, however costly.

If you are visiting the Happy House or would like to send a gift, a bottle of calcium syrup would be very welcome. We know our children benefit from it and David, in particular, must have it to ensure he builds strong bones.

Our address is: Sue Hayward's Happy House, PO Box 796, Watamu, Kenya, East Africa,

 

Birthday time

Three children celebrated their birthdays at Kidz Klub this week - Janet, Sifa and Fikiri.

Papa Dave did the honours, presenting each of them with a birthday gift from all the family.

We know that some of you may be a little confused about your sponsored child's birthday, when it's popped up on here at a totally different time from the date you may have received on the original profile.

We are so sorry if this does happen the date given to you was given in good faith but, as we have since discovered, determining a child's real birth date can be far from straightforward and can take many, many months of investigation.

Sue explains: "When a lot of the children first came home to the Happy House their details were very mixed up. Sometimes they were brought by the Children's Office who had rescued them from the most awful conditions.

" Some were brought by a relative who didn't know when the child was born, sometimes,not even the year. Billy, our very hard working social worker, who most of you have already had contact with has working very hard for the past 16 months he has been at home with us to sort out all the details of each child.

"He has had to trace death certificates of parents or grandparents, if they were the last people to be caring for the child. The most difficult job has been to obtain birth certificates for each child. Some of the births were registered but some were not, so it is a long and lengthy process to bring every child's file up to date with the correct information.

"If we gave you a birthday date for your child that we now find to be incorrect we are so sorry.

"Some of you, I know, feel disappointed to have missed your child's birthday, please don't be, feel free to send just a general card or letter, or even a postcard of where you live just to say Hi.

" Every child's birthday is celebrated here at the Happy House on Tuesday's at Kidz Klub, none of our children has missed out on their own birthday celebration.

"We are so grateful to you and it is your generosity and your sponsorship that makes out job here possible.

Vintage delight

Tomorrow Elizabeth Gomm and Lynn McCluskey will be spreading the Happy House word with an information stand at Dotty D Lightful's Truly Scrumptious Vintage and Handmade Craft Fair at Claremont Community Centre (the old library), Claremont Road, North Shore, Blackpool, FY1 2QJ, from 1.30pm-5.30pm. Dotty has booked lots of great stalls so some along and start your Christmas shopping with some unique and special gifts.

Snakes alive!

You just never know what visitors a new day will bring to the Happy House and yesterday it was a snake!

It was spotted near to Brenda's cowshed and Mama Sue immediately called the local snake farm who came to remove it.

Billy reports: "It was a bit of a scare, though the handler was quick to reassure us that it was not a poisonous snake even after it went straight on to his index finger with a tight bite!"