Sickle cell sets us on a new quest



When children come to the Happy House they are guaranteed much more than a safe and loving home. Whatever problem or difficulty life might throw up, they can be sure of getting whatsoever it is they need to help them grow and flourish and to give them the best outlook for a healthy, happy, fulfilling life. This is where Jonathan's story starts:

Jonathan

 When, in 2011, her husband was brutally murdered, grieving mum Kasichana, was left to raise a family of 10 children on her own.

With her newborn twins, just 18 days old, Kasichana, terrified a land dispute had prompted the violence in which her husband was clubbed to death, fled her home, taking her children with her. Her refuge was with her brother on his meagre homestead where he already struggles to feed his own large family.


James

The demands of two young babies, Jonathan and James, plus caring for her five older children, aged three to 16, and three teenage step-children from her husband's former marriage, made it impossible for her get work.
And, as for millions in the underdeveloped world, Kasichana, 36, knew that the stark reality of unemployment  would mean one thing for her children- hunger.
If she couldn’t work, they couldn’t eat.
On the brink of despair she sought help and placed her beautiful twin boys into care. They joined our family at the Happy House Children’s Home in July 2011. The Happy House, currently home to 59 orphaned,abandoned, abused or neglected children, was opened by Blackpool-based charity Children of Watamu in March 2010, and provides exemplary care and education for its family.
Jonathan and James born on May 13, 2011, are now getting the best start in life with us while their mum, knowing they are in safe and loving hands, has an opportunity to do her best to support the rest of her extensive brood.
October 2012:
After an initial reluctance to put any weight on his feet Jonathan  was happily walking, with and without a walker, speed crawling, and appearing to do well, until early last month when he became distressed when trying to walk and displayed symptoms of pain in his legs. Medical investigations and tests have now revealed he has sickle cell disease, and as he and James are identical twins, James is now being tested.
Sickle cell is something entirely new to us at the Happy House but we are determined that Jonathan, and his brother if need be, will get the very best treatment we can find, regardless of cost.
They are very special, much loved, members of our family - one of our three sets of twin boys- and we will leave no stone unturned to ensure that they have the best quality of life.
We have received useful information and support from Isabel Adams, a specialist nurse, in the children's sickle cell unit at Birmingham Children's Hospital and are in touch with other UK sickle cell organisations.
We have an excellent paediatrician in Malindi who has already put a treatment regime in place, but we want to ensure that what Jonathan gets is the most advanced available and if it is not available there then we will try to source it here and get it out to him. We also need to ensure that our housemums are trained to recognise and deal with a sickle cell crisis as soon as it occurs.
Please can you help?
Every visit to the doctor, every medical procedure and all medicines must to be paid for in Kenya.
Jonathan, and most probably James, will need medical support and medication for the rest of their lives. 
Please can you help-us to meet these costs, or help by providing advice or support?
Contact: Elizabeth Gomm (Voluntary UK coordinator), Children of Watamu, 6 Burwood Drive, Blackpool, FY3 8NS. Tel: 07905 130 589 or email: elizabethgomm@childrenofwatamu.net

 

 

Love at first sight

Beautiful Esther, the youngest member of our family, now has a place in the hearts of Italian couple Ilaria Ceresoli and Marco Giordano.
They were introduced to the Happy House family by their close friend Susanna whilst on holiday - and Esther entered their lives.

 

Now proud to be members of her sponsor family, Ilaria and Marco tell us: "As soon as we walked in and saw all those beautiful happy children sing, play and leap we felt such strong emotions.
"We then met Esther, before entering the room of the little ones, we saw only her tiny legs  and at that moment we realized that she would be our little princess.
"She is the smallest of all, so small and helpless, with those huge eyes carefully seeing every little movement. We loved her from the first moment.
"When we picked her up  she immediately entered into our hearts with her immense sweetness.
"The next day we returned to Happy House and we also wanted to come back the next few days, but unfortunately we had to return to Italy, although we hope to come back soon to visit and find you.
"Not a day goes by that we do not think of her, how she is and what she is doing.
"We look forward to helping more and more involving friends and our family so that all those wonderful children can continue to run and play happy and carefree as they deserve."
To find out more about how you can make a difference by sponsoring a Happy House child please email: sue@childrenofwatamu.net or elizbethgomm@childrenofwatamu.net

 

All buttoned up .. by Rose

With so many children in a family there are always clothes that need mending.. and that's what Rose Chai - the elder of our two Happy House Roses - has chosen to write about for today's blog.

I am writing to tell you about the buttons.

 

On Saturday afternoon we are collecting buttons and looking to see those who do not have buttons on their clothes.

Auntie shows us  how you sew on buttons and then Janet, Mariam and I am sewing on the buttons and Mercy is taking the pictures.

 

Sunday treat

Don't forget tomorrow is Kids Day on the blog, and our guest writer this week is the elder of our two Roses.

A powerful force

Big sisters to their Happy house "brothers and sisters" our older girls are just such great role models and always ready to give a helping hand whenever needed

But they are their Mama Sue's daughters and never forget that girls are every bit as good as the boys. 
They take a great pride in making sure that they strive to be good at all they do and that Girl Power is always much in evidencre !

Pictured, from left, are Lucinda. Maria, Mercy, Janet and Margaret.

"Our family" restored

The news, brought to you in a kid's blog by Evans, that the original greenhousing had been destroyed by heavy rains  brought a smile to many of you when he described rebuilding as a necessity because it is "a part of our family".

 You will be pleased to see that this member of our family is now being restored to good health with rebuilding work almost complete and the plants underneath that survived the recent deluge are protected from the extreme sunshine and now have a chance to recover too.

We are family ....





   Tom and Emily      

Wherever in the world we live we are Happy House family.

Tom and Ruth

Those who have befriended our children by joining their sponsor families, or who help us by raising money and awareness know they are a part of something very special.Your love and kindness means so much, and  Mama was thrilled to hear from Ruth Smith recently, who with her husband Tom sponsors Harrison, who sent this lovely message for her to give to him.
Ruth's email headed, simply, "Addition to Harrison's sponsor family", reads:

Our Harrison

 "We wanted to let you know that you now have a little sister as part of
your sponsor family. Her name is Emily and she is 7 weeks old.
"  Hopefully one day when she is bigger we will be able to come back to Watumu and she
will be able to meet you and all your family at Happy House.
"  Hope you are ok and enjoying school again after the recent break."


Beautiful Emily

Congratulations to Ruth and Tom, who discovered the Happy House whilst they were on their honeymoon in Turtle Bay,  and a  very big welcome to our family to baby Emily.
Your pictures are safely stored in Harrison's memory box and he's thrilled to have a new sponsor "sister."
He can't wait to show you around when you are big enough to visit, Emily xxx

A delivery for Santa's stockroom

Meet Santa's helpers!
Brenda and Red Groves have been supporting Mama Sue's work for many years, and visit the Happy House every year.
They are members of Charity's sponsor family and Brenda's brother, Terry, is in Brian's family.
Brenda and Red  are now  in Watamu but travelled up to Blackpool from their home in Oxfordshire,  before they left to fill two massive holdalls with clothes and gifts you  have donated for Christmas.
Their help in getting them there is a huge help and we are so grateful to them.
Brenda and Red have taken their youngest granddaughter Grace Lochrie and her step-sister, Grace Dunbar, along with them and they are all so enjoying spending time with our kids.
As you can see, head housemum Auntie Prescha is busy getting organised for Christmas, sorting new outfits into bags for each child.
Auntie Prescha knows each child so well she can tell instinctively what will fit whom, and their colour and choice preferences. We can't go by sizes on labels, because our children do tend to slightly built so European sizes can be way too big and we don't want any disappointments!
Mama, Papa and Auntie Libz will be taking much more when they fly out next month .. a Santa sleigh might be the only answer to excess baggage!
As our family grows our needs are changing, and there is always something different needed.
Our older girls, for instance, now need first bras so that something else we will have to find room for.
New clothes, like those you have so kindly given us, mean so much to our children... some of whom had absolutely nothing bar rags, before they came to us.
Imagine how they will feel to open a Christmas parcel containing a brand new outfit? They will be overjoyed and will, we can assure you, take great pride in both wearing and looking after their clothes. Everything they receive is cherished.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity.