Spreading the love in Italy

Susanna, Daniela and Laura

 Some wonderful friends in Italy have been spreading the love for our Happy House family and making new friends for our children.

Laura Astoria and Daniela Bonassi held a  fundraising dinner which was a huge success resulting in a total of 2500 euro.

Laura writes: " We first visited Happy House  in January 2014 and we immediately felt a special affection for all of you and the many happy children living there.

We developed a special connection with some of the children and Daniela became Peninah's sponsor and myself Peter and Paul's and then Freddie, when Peter and Paul returned to live with their mother.

We hope and trust that with our contribution they can live and grow in a safe and caring environment, thanks to your passion and love. 

This year we came up with a new idea to raise some extra money and inform new people about your work at Happy House.

Myself and Daniela arranged a charity dinner for friends and acquaintances. In the beginning we were not sure we could raise much interest and optimistically set our target to 50 people... and they quickly became 105, the maximum the restaurant, Antico Mulino in Rovato,  could hold.

We feared that in a small village, where we live, people would not be interested in this kind of events but were proved wrong,
The dinner was a great success and people were highly interested in knowing more about Happy House and glad to give their generous contributions!

The dinner has been arranged at a friend's restaurant, with photos of  Happy House children all over the place and was followed by live music.

We also played collection of videos and  photos, including the  birth of your school, Mama Sue and Papa Dave and the children, together with some special moments we shared with them over the past two years.  Everyone was deeply moved and we can say that a piece of  Kenya is now in their hearts too.

 We could not have done this without help from Susanna Gregorio’s help, she introduced us to Happy House and to our children and we are very grateful for  this and honoured by her friendship.

Thanks to her we knew what the real Africa is like and are were proud to have the opportunity to share this knowledge and strong emotions with our friends.

 We collected a good amount of  donations and more offers are still coming in.. 

Thank you for what you are doing to make these children's lives happy.”
And our thanks to you Laura and Daniela for arranging this fantastic event,  to Susanna for her help and to all your friends who supported you and gave so generously.
Your love is greatly appreciated and every euro will make a difference to the lives of children in need.

Learning new things, by Mary

Mary Womboi was successful in passing her KCPE exam and graduating from our primary school to secondary school.

One of our first free-place scholarship students she is happy and grateful to have the chance to be learning in Happy House Secondary School which opened its doors for the first time in January.

She writes:

It is a nice chance for me to be in the new school

The first day I joined the new secondary school I was so glad because we met the new teachers who were so loving to us.

New subject were introduced to us and there seemed to be too many for us because in the primary level we were used to five subjects while in the secondary school we are now having 13 subjects.

But it is not too many. 

It is a nice experience for all of us and we are learning so many new things.

Esther takes a tumble

Our Esther took a tumble during playtime and is now sporting a plaster cast!
She underwent an examination and x-ray at Dr Erulus clinic and he diagnosed a greenstick fracture which should heel quickly. 
Mr Steve was there while the plaster was applied and Mama nearby to give her encouragement, comfort and kisses!
 Uncle Billy says of Esther "All is well with our brave little princess."

Birthdays and au revoir

There were two birthdays to celebrate at Happy House this week - Pendo who is turning nine today and Baraka  who is also nine.

Papa had the important task of handing over their birthday gifts while everyone at Kidz Club sang happy birthday to the children.

Mama and Papa explained to the family that they were going on a short visit to the UK and that they would be back very soon.

And as a special treat there were fresh mangoes all round.

Everyone  wished Mama and Papa a safe and happy journey.

£5 challenge in Fleetwood and Day of Prayer

Sandra

Fleetwood Rotary Club members are rising to the challenge of using their talents to turn a fiver into something special.
Members were given £5 at the start of the year along with a challenge, issued by Sandra Foulkes, of using it to generate as much money as they could for Happy House.
On March 23,  Mama Sue, Papa Dave and Auntie Libby will be at their meeting to discover just what innovative fundraisers have done and how much they have raised.

Sandra, who works with Rotakids in Larkholme School and is a governor at Charles Saer,  has used her £5 to buy small organza bags and a can of silver spray. 
She sprayed a pile of pebbles which children in both schools bought and personalised with single words to give to their mums in Little Bags of Love for Mother's Day.

Another two Rotarians  pooled resources to rent a pitch at a car boot sale to turn their trash into treasure.

These are just a couple of the cash boosting ideas, the rest will be revealed later this month and we just can't wait to hear what they have all been up to.

Thank you to Sandra, who sponsors Pendo and Saumu,  and to all those taking part - every penny you raise will make a huge difference.

Women's World Day of Prayer

The kindness of the 40 or so women who turned out on a bitterly cold night to a service of celebration, music and worship for Women's World Day of Prayer brought a special warmth to the beautiful of old church in Eagland Hill, Lancashire.  Our UK coordinator Elizabeth Gomm was delighted to take part in the service by speaking on the work of Mama Sue and her Happy House.  The ladies were inspired by what Sue has achieved in changing the lives of so many children and also in by the way in which some had been successfully reunited with relatives and integrated into their local communities.

Sadness to smiles for new arrivals

What a difference a couple of hours makes.
Yesterday morning,  Esther and Alpha came to us frightened and unsure of themselves and a few hours later they were happy, smiling and showing off in their nice new clothes.
Arriving at Happy House was scary for Esther, five, and Alpha , four, who were coming to a place so very different from anything they have known before.
Everyone rallied to make them feel at home and welcome. 
Auntie Rose and Auntie Jessie were on hand to meet them while Auntie Velma was busy sorting out clothes, baths for the little ones.
They have been referred by Malindi child protection office which has identified them as being in need of care and protection. 
Their mum had left them locked in a room while she went into Malindi, on her way home she was involved in an accident and is being treated for critical injuries in Malindi Hospital.

The details surrounding her leaving them in that way are very scant and it was thanks to a well-wisher that the children were rescued and brought into care.
Alpha has a bad cough, and Esther a skin complaint so a trip to the doctor was organised straight away.
Now they are safe in our care they will soon find themselves among friends and enjoying family and school life at Happy House.
And we will be here for them for just as long as they need.

School report: Reward spur for whole school

 Madam Sarah Wanjiku  brings us a report on the last week in Happy House School:
  Everyone in school is excited to hear about the safari adventure of our Form One secondary students.
They had an enjoyable break in Tsavo, courtesy of Mama Sue and Papa Dave, as  a reward for their good performance in the KCPE in which all of them emerged victors. 
Our lovely Mama says this is going to be an annual trip for all the candidates who pass their national exam.
They will, like this Form One, have fun after a long hard working period in their primary level education.
Without doubt, the current candidates will do their best to set good or still, higher records so that they too can go on a safari come next year.

In the rest of the school,  learners  came back from half term ready to continue with the normal school schedule.

 They looked refreshed and determined to go on which is an indication that the break did them good. In general, everything is moving on swiftly.

Odds on at Cheadle Hulme

 Our kids had great fun when they were asked to put on odd shoes and socks for a picture to say thank you to their friends in Year Seven at Cheadle Hulme School.
An "Odd Socks and Shoes Day" was one of the ways the youngsters from the Cheshire school raised funds for our Happy House.
They also earned donations at home by pledging to do chores and held other activities in school to add to the coffers.
And their efforts resulted in a wonderful £2061 to buy desks and chairs for our secondary school.
Thank you to head of year Mr Peter Upton and to all his students and their families who contributed to this fantastic fundraiser.
You are very special indeed and Mama Sue & Papa Dave are looking forward to seeing you all very soon.