Happy House history makers

Class 8 with Mama, Papa, Uncle Billy and Mr Isaac

These are exciting if nervous times for students in class eight at Happy House school.
They will be making history when, next week, they become the first young people from our school to sit the important Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations.
And for one young lady, Janet, it will be a double first.  She is also the first youngster from living in our Happy House family from the start to take the exam. 
The others have all come to Happy House on our  free place Dr Danwata Scholarship scheme and without our help would not have been in education at all. Two of them, Dennis and Victoria have also been given a home in our family because of their profound need.
There's a huge importance attached to this national exam and our kids have worked their socks off. 
They have been in school by 6.30 every morning and studied until late, and worked on revision in their own time and at weekends, with classes with teacher every Saturday morning.
Their teachers too have been pulling out all the stops to bring them on and Uncle Billy has been there with an ever guiding hand.
Mama  has been there with her guidance and encouragement, as has Papa. Like all parents Mama and Papa want the very best for their Happy House kids. Home kids or scholarship, they are all our family.
There is a fixed timetable for the exams, starting with a rehearsal day on Monday. The exams then start on Tuesday.
Teacher Mr Isaac writes:
"It has been a journey of a thousand miles for class eight.
"It is by meeting challenges, determination and hard work that has brought us this far.
Today (Friday) is our last day of teaching.
The exams are from Tuesday to Thursday. 
The learners will sit for Mathematics, English Language and English composition on Tuesday. 
On Wednesday they are expected to do Science, Kiswahili Lugha and Kiswahili Insha (composition and language). 
They will finish the last paper on Thursday with Social Studies and religious education. 
Throughout this time the school will be closed to all but those directly involved in the exams.
Only the candidates are allowed to be in the school compound plus the external invigilators and one security officer to ensure their security during exams.
 The head teacher is, however, allowed to be in the compound but must not go near the exam room.
For this reason the rest of the children and teachers will not be in school."
Mr Isaac adds: " The learners are good physically socially and emotionally, we hope they are going to pass in their final exams with flying colours.
We Sincerely Mama Sue, the Happy House family, sponsors and supporters  who have helped us reach this far.

We humbly ask you to continue to give your support, materially, financially and spiritually, to help uplift these young people who have such high hopes of going on to  secondary school here in January."

Yesterday there was a service of thanksgiving for Class Eight with Mama, Papa, Uncle Billy, teachers and the students relatives or guardians. 

They gathered for worship, led by a local pastor, and students took part in the service including Mercy Rehema who gave thanks to Mama and all who provided them with such a loving and caring learning environment, with all the resources they needed.
She and Diana Mbeyu joined to sing a hymn of thanks.

It was a moving and happy occasion, a landmark in the life of the Happy House thus far.

Each one of these young people has come through so much to get to this point.
Before coming to Happy House they had  endured much hardship and loss in circumstances where which denied  them any schooling at all.

Our Happy House put them back in school and on the road out of poverty, our school is their route to a bright future.

They have worked so hard and they deserve to succeed, and we wish them all the luck in the world and know, for certain, when exam day dawns they will do as they always do - their very best.

Monkey business for painters!

 Painting the Happy House is, as we have said before, a huge task.
But just like any other home owner we have to keep on top of routine maintenance, which includes regular painting of walls inside and out.
"The painting is looking good," says Mama.
" It badly needed doing but it is not until they start you realize just how much, then of course one thing leads to another!
" It is well worth the effort to keep everywhere looking good."

Missy's magical monkey 2014

Looking fresh 

The murals, so beautifully painted  on the walls of our inner courtyard last year by volunteers Missy Regan and and Lotte Van Kouwen from Flourish Foundation, were looking a bit tired and worn after being touched by so many of our little monkeys, that they need a little TLC
The kids adore the cheerful animals that line the walls on their way to bed and now they are

as fresh and bright as the day Missy and Lotte put down their brushes.

Happy outing for room winners

The youngsters whose tidiness and good behaviour won their bedrooms  the best room awards  this month, had a lovely trip out at the weekend.

The winning boys and girls went to visit Mama Sue and Papa Dave at their home in Turtle Bay, where they were able to have a cooling dip in the pool before gathering in Mama and Papa's banda for hot dogs, watermelon and juice.

Theooms of the month competition is bringing dividends as the kids know that if they all work together to keep their rooms in order and  behave nicely towards each other there is the chance of a reward.

The awards are an incentive and have brought the positive response Mama hoped for.

School Report: Mammoth task for Mama

Reviewing your child's progress with their teacher is important for every parent, so imagine what it's like for Mama Sue with more than 100 kids to keep up with!

So while teachers held an academic clinic for parents in our school in one morning, it takes Mama slightly longer to get through all our family children, and scholarship kids too.

So Saturday mornings have provided a chance for her to meet individual children with their teachers.

It's very important for Mama and for her kids to know that she really cares about their performance and is keen to encourage and inspire them to do their best.

Some of our upper primary kids have been out and about enjoying cross country running, while the lower primary pupils have been learning to play cricket,

Our KG3 pupils have been nurturing their individual creative talents by performing a play guided by Auntie Coral.

An evening to in-Spire!

 Our special brand of magic wove it way into hearts at a special Happy House evening hosted by our great friends Joanne and Peter Reid.
Joanne, a nurse at  Fylde Spire Hospital, Blackpool, and Pete will be flying out to Kenya next week to make their fourth visit to our Happy House family.
And as Joanne's colleagues at Spire have always been so supportive in providing both clothing for our children and donations, she arranged an evening of Prosecco and nibbles  to let them know more about our wonderful family and to raise money at the same time.

Jo started the evening by telling how she and Pete had discovered Happy House and how they had wanted to help, initially, to get their sons, Jacob and Maxwell, then young teenagers, involved in helping others using their love of sport as motivation.
 Since that first visit their link with Happy House has grown ever stronger and they now sponsor a little girl, Florence.
Elizabeth Gomm  took over with an introduction to our family and our inspirational Mama Sue and Papa Dave. She emphasised the importance of sponsorship as the monthly income it brings is our financial underpinning.
Guests both laughed and cried as they watched a video bringing our Happy House to life.
Peter also spoke about how Happy House touched their lives and how, even before before they set off on their trip, they are dreading the time when they have to leave again to come back home.
The evening raised £291 (with the promise of more to come) which Jo and Pete will use to buy groceries and household supplies for Happy House while they are there.
We also gained five new members of our family, who signed up to sponsor a child.
It was a lovely evening, thank you Jo and Pete for arranging it and thank you to everyone who came along.

Networking in the interests of children

The Happy House was pleased to play host to a meeting of the  network of  Charitable Children's  Institutions
 was also attended by two children officers at the sub-county level.
Uncle Ronald writes: " It was a nice meeting as the members shared their experiences and challenges encountered in their respective homes. 
The issue of bed wetting was mentioned and Mama explained to the members how we handle it here by the use of the room diaries and positive encouragement.
Everyone had an opportunity to go through one of the diaries and there was a positive response an indication that other homes will follow suit.
After the meeting we had lunch together and afterwards all the members were taken on a guided tour around the Happy House. 
They walked in the rooms both dow stairs and upstairs and they saw how neat they were and  again they were told that this was a response from the children to the room diaries and award scheme.
 Many members took photos uof the rooms, they really loved what they saw.
After the tour, I heard some members saying everything at Happy House is well organized and that we are the leading home.

Our best teacher by David and Katana

 

Science is a subject that captures the imagination of pupils and our science teacher. Mr Isaac, is very popular with his pupils.

David Karisa and Katana are  our bloggers today and they are both writing about their best subject and their best teacher.

David writes:

I am 10 and I am in class four.

My best subject is science and my class teacher is called Mr Isaac.

I like science because  it can help you  be a farmer and a pilot,

In science you get to know about animals how they move and what they eat . Lion eats human beings and other animals .

When I grow up  I would like to be a scientist so I can study the weather and do good work.

Many people want to be good in science like our big brothers and sisters who are nearly doing their KCPE on November 10.

Katana adds:                                                                                         I am in class four and my best teacher is Mr Isaac.  He teaches science .

I like my teacher because he teaches well.

He teaches us things like parts of the body and how they work.

In science we learnt about ways that we can get meat and milk from animals like cows and goats and of other animals that give us meat and eggs.

Animals that they give us meat and eggs are chicken, goose, duck and turkeys

Our teacher is very good at science  and even in all subjects.

When it is time for exams we all get above ninety eight and six pupils are getting one hundred, like John and Selina and Rose.
To help us finish, furnish and open our secondary school ready for opening at the start of the 2016 academic year in January, please make a donation at  http://campaign.justgiving.com/charity/childrenofwatamu/brightfuture