Running for your money

Well done to Chris Lunt who braved the cold to complete a 10k run in Manchester on Sunday to raise money for our family.
Chris, from Denton, is an account manager at Micro Librarian Systems, Stockport, which has adopted our Happy House as its charity.
Chris, who is joining our sponsor family, wanted to go the extra mile by taking part in a sponsored run.
So far he has raised  more than one hundred pounds on his Justgiving page.
Many thanks Chris for your valiant efforts … as you can see from this picture our kids like running too!
If you would like to support Chris and the Happy House you can make a donation at www.justgiving.com/happyhouse
A big thank you to Devizes Running Club who made a donation of one hundred pounds via our good friend and charity trustee Chris Franklin.
Baggage call
Does anyone living in Blackpool or the Fylde coast have any large holdalls they may no longer need or could loan to Mama Sue and Papa Dave who have so many donated items to take back to the Happy House with them when they next go back.
They need two or three holdalls, with a 23k capacity. If you can help please email Mama at sue@childrenofwatamu.net

Thanks for calling in

The day before leaving for the UK, Mama was delighted to welcome Ian and Isobel Hume back to the Happy House.
Ian and Isobel are regular visitors to Turtle Bay Beach Club and when they are home in Basingstoke like to follow the progress of the Happy House family via the website and blog.
There have been many changes since they last came to see us  and they were impressed by what they saw, especially the school and our greenhouses.
Isobel was very keen to meet our very special little boy David to see the progress that he has made, and it was time for his daily exercises when she popped into the baby banda to say hello.
Isobel and Ian brought with them some lovely items for our children which are so appreciated.
Thank you both for taking the time to visit, we hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday.
*Visitors are always welcome at the Happy House (weekdays 9am-4pm), Uncle Billy or Auntie Rose will be happy to show you around. 
If you would like to call first the number, in Kenya, is 0726 335215. December 25, Christmas Day, will be a quiet family day so please note that there will be no visitors that day.
Bigger Bus Appeal
As you may know we have launched our Happy House Bigger Bus Appeal to raise money to buy a bigger bus so we can transport our kids, as a family, safely and more cost-effectively to medical and dental appointments, outside activities including free weekly football coaching at a football academy for disadvantaged kids in Malindi, on school trips and other excursions which are so much a part of growing up.
If you would like to support our appeal you can donate by clicking on this link http://www.justgiving.com/elizabeth-gomm .
Please share this link with your friends and your family and help to get our family on the right road in 2013!

The cutting edge

Acut above: Fikiri, Evans and Sifa

Sifa takes over the blog this week with a story of a trip to the barber.
He writes:

 The boys wanted to have their hair cut so they went to see Mama to ask and she said ‘’Yes, you can’’ and she gave Evans the money.
The boys, 13 of us, walked to                                                                                      
                                                         Timboni to the barbers.
                                                         They were pleased to see us.

   They cut our hair. 

Uncle Billy came with the camera and asked me please      to take pictures for the blog.
Then we came home. Auntie Libby took a picture of me, Evans and Fikiri.
We now look very smart.

Bigger Bus Appeal
As you may know we have launched our Happy House Bigger Bus Appeal to raise money to buy a bigger bus so we can transport our kids, as a family, safely and more cost-effectively to medical and dental appointments, outside activities including free weekly football coaching at a football academy for disadvantaged kids in Malindi, on school trips and other excursions which are so much a part of growing up.
If you would like to support our appeal you can donate by clicking on this link http://www.justgiving.com/elizabeth-gomm .
Please share this link with your friends and your family and help to get our family on the right road in 2013!

Brian part of Blackpool school family

Children at Devonshire Primary School, Blackpool,  enjoy following the progress of their own special Happy House child Brian. And they are a very important part of his sponsor family. Here Devonshire school tells of the road that led it to the Happy House:
""Our involvement began shortly after we had seen reports about Sue and the Happy House Project in the Blackpool Gazette. Jack, Sue’s grandson, was a pupil of our school at that time.
School thought that it would be a great idea to sponsor her charity so that our children could learn about children from other countries who are less fortunate than themselves.
The children of the school council quickly became involved with the charity.  They invited Sue into school to come and give a talk to the School Council.  Sue spoke about her work and showed the children a dvd.
This touched the hearts of the children and they agreed that we at Devonshire should sponsor a child.  That child was Brian. This obviously made the children think deeply about Watamu and baby Brian as, during the yearly SATS, many children wrote about the charity in their literacy writing tests.
The children are always suggesting new fundraising ideas and keep up to date with the latest news from Watamu by looking at our display on the corridor or reminiscing by looking at old photos and reports in our display book in the reception area.

A book for Brian

Sponsoring Brian has enriched the lives of our children, helping them to realise that not everyone is as fortunate as we are and that no matter how little we may have to give, what we can give can and does make a difference.  We  thank the Happy House for that opportunity."

A tasty read!

Devonshire  sent a storybook for Brian for Christmas, with love from all his friends there, and he has his own section and gallery on the school blog where children can follow his progress, see our Happy House daily blog, and add their own comments.
*Brian came to the Happy House as a newborn in June 2010. His mother abandoned him in hospital shortly after giving birth. He is a happy, thriving toddler and enjoying being in the Playgroup at the Happy House School.
Thank you Devonshire School for your continued support and love for little Brian.
If any schools or individuals would like to know more about sponsoring a Happy House child please contact: elizabethgomm@childrenofwatamu.net

An uneasy parting

Mama and Papa were given the most loving  of send-offs when they started their journey back to the UK.

The kids were very subdued at Kidz Club knowing they had to say goodbye to their Mama, Papa and Auntie Libby who, after a very busy three weeks, had to fly back to fulfil vital fundraising commitments.

 Everyone put  on a brave face, but you could tell from the atmosphere that they were reluctant to see them leave.
It was a difficult for everyone but they all know that it will not be long before they will be back again as the intention is to "come and go''  until we have built a good financial foundation for our family which has grown far quicker than we could ever have predicted.
Completing the school is a real milestone, but there is still much more to do and with irons in the fire here in the UK we have to push forward to try to secure more child sponsors and new sources of funding .
We are exploring every avenue and our aim is to try to tap into big corporate charitable trusts.
 If you work for a company that has such a trust and might be worth approaching please let us know. You can email sue@childrenofwatamu.net or elizabethgomm@childrenofwatamu.net
For now Mama and Papa will be working from Blackpool, Mama is in daily touch with her very capable management team using Skype or telephone and also Skypes the kids to keep up with their news every week.
The children are always told honestly what is happening and involved in making many of the decisions so they have known that Mama and Papa would have to leave and why.
Our kids may have been a bit down, but they are secure in the knowledge that at the Happy House they have a true and loving family.
By the middle of next summer we hope to be in a position where Mama and Papa can return home for good.

Burnley brights

Terry Burns, Auntie Rose and kids

Our kids look so bright in their new Burnley shirts, given to our family by the town’s football club.
Our girls and boys are mad about football and so now the East Lancashire Club has its own junior supporters' club in East Africa.
Burnley fan Terry Burns was given it the kits and dozens of them arrived courtesy of aerospace company Aircell, which has a branch in Burnley.

Uncle Billy, David, Katana and Steve

Darren Richardson, a trustee of Terry’s charity Furniture for Education Worldwide, who is now Aircell’s director of operations in China, very kindly made the arrangements.

Janet, Margaret and Shakila

Our football-mad kids were thrilled to pose for pictures with Terry on the Happy House steps and instead of saying cheese Auntie Libby got them chanting “Burnley!” with coaching from Terry who has lived there al his life.
Thank you to Burnley Football Club and to Darren and Aircell, and again to Terry, for  making these lovely smiles possible. 
Bus Appeal
As you may know we have launched our Happy House Bigger Bus Appeal to raise money to buy a bigger bus so we can transport our kids, as a family, safely and more cost-effectively to medical and dental appointments, outside activities including free weekly football coaching at a football academy for disadvantaged kids in Malindi, on school trips and other excursions which are so much a part of growing up.
If you would like to support our appeal you can donate by clicking on this link http://www.justgiving.com/elizabeth-gomm .
Please share this link with your friends and your family and help to get our family on the right road in 2013!.

Networking for our kids

It was a landmark day for Uncle Billy when the Happy House hosted the inaugural meeting of the CCI Network.

Representatives from 15 Charitable Children’s Institutions from the Malindi area gathered to talk about the ways they could work together to improve the services they provide to their children.

By sharing experiences, information and advice on situations they encounter they hope all the children’s homes families will benefit and be enriched.

Mama Sue, as director of the Happy House, spoke about how she had come to be in Kenya and the beliefs that had driven her to develop her Happy House.

Uncle Billy, our hardworking and dedicated social worker, has been working towards setting up this network for the past year and the first meeting was the culmination of his tireless efforts.

The visitors were shown around our home and Evans, Margaret and Samson joined the meeting and chatted confidently and happily about being Happy House kids.

Mama said: ‘’Billy has worked so hard towards setting up this network and now we have a real chance to show how we are changing the way that children  are being cared for.  By sharing our own experiences we will all grow and, I hope, improve what we are doing for children.’’

The network will meet monthly, hosted by a different institution each time, and the next meeting will take place on January 23 in Malindi.