www.blackpoolgazette.co.

uk The Gazette, Saturday, May 7, 2011 11

Locals gather in Stanley

Park today to raise money
for a baby boy dumped on
a rubbish heap in Kenya
– and others like him.
Elizabeth Gomm reports
T
he moment I step back on Kenyan soil I
know that I was right to let the chil-
dren of this incredible country change
my life. My head and my heart have told me
so every day since I left The Gazette eight
months ago to work, for free, for Sue Hay-
ward’s Happy House.
When the former Blackpool landlady and
husband, Dave, gave up their lives here to
devote all their time to running her Happy
House Children’s Home in Watamu, they
needed someone to take up the reins here – to
raise awareness and funds for her charity,
Children of Watamu.
Inspired by Sue’s determination, courage
and commitment to change the lives of some
of Kenya’s most vulnerable children, I was
happy that person should be me.
I love what I do, the reward is knowing that
I can, honestly and without doubt, say that I
am helping the Happy House save children’s
lives, turning the fear on their little faces into
smiles and to putting hope in their hearts
A year after the Happy House opened its
doors – thanks to so much fund-raising and
generosity from so many people on the Fylde
coast – I am back to spend a month helping
Sue.
It’s no holiday. This is real hard work,
temperatures soaring to 41C and above. Sue
works tirelessly from early morning until
early evening, and I do whatever I can to help,
wherever I’m needed.
It’s six months since my last visit, and eve-
rything has come on: the grounds are
maturing, the Happy House is ever more
homely, upstairs a nursery school has
opened and the building is filled with the
sound of children singing. HAPPY HOUSE: Sue Hayward with baby Harry. Top right, the Happy House those working directly with the children and
And the first kids, there since the start, gets ready to say goodbye to baby Joe. Middle right Elizabeth Gomm with the wages bill alone is £2,000 a month – a tall
have changed from frightened and poorly lit- Warda, who found newborn Harry on this rubbish tip. Right, the Happy House order for a small charity.

Turning fear
tle beings to confident, healthy youngsters. All the kids love Mama Sue and Papa Dave.
All our children, who have endured more They have no favourites – but some muscle in
loss, fear and pain in their lives than any- for a little special treatment.
one should in a lifetime, soon start to heal. Like baby Harry, one of our foundlings…
Respected, loved and cared for, no one needs rescued from a rubbish dump.
to be afraid. They are encouraged to speak out I am proud and privileged to reunite him
and at weekly Kidz Club one little girl, Rukia, with Warda, the woman who found him.
stands up to announce her gripe of the week She heard a plastic bag rustle on a rubbish

– “I don’t like cabbage!”
Karembo, four, such a sad child this time
last year, is all smiles. When she arrived, her
fingers and toes were being eaten away by
jiggers, her tummy swollen with intestinal
worms, and all she did was cling to the walls
and whimper.
Her brothers, Sifa and John, once so with-
drawn have emerged from their shells and are
eager to take part in the Happy House first
birthday show.
There are now 49 children in our family,
many have child sponsors on the Fylde coast.
The children may not be related but they all
think of themselves as brothers and sisters.
You never know when the next will arrive.
The need is great and it can be at any time of
day or night.
I also see one go. Baby Joe, whose mum died
in childbirth, goes home to his dad, Julius.
into smiles
With two older sons, and no state or family
support, Julius was defeated by grief when his
wife died and, unable to care for Joe, brought
him to the Happy House.
He’s phoned most days and three months
later, his situation has changed, a sister has
moved so she can help him care for the chil-
dren, and the family is reunited. It’s painful
for everyone to see the Happy House lastborn
leave, but the joy on his father’s face tells you
it’s right. The Happy House had breached a
gap in Julius’ life when most need-
ed, and gave Joe the best start.
The interests of the children
come first and foremost. There
is no room for half measures or
compromise. All the staff know
it and respect founder Sue for it.
Even though raising the money
to keep the Happy House going is
a constant worry, Sue never accepts
second best. The only people paid are
dump, felt compelled to look inside, and found
Harry, eight weeks premature, weighing less
than 2kg, with the umbilical cord and placenta
attached. She rushed home nearby to alert her
husband and minutes later they passed the tip
again to see it covered with dogs.
“If he had still been there, I do not think
he would be on this earth today,” she
l For said.
more, visit Sue provided his nappies,
www.childrenof milk and medication for the
watamu.net or call eight weeks he was in special
Elizabeth on 07905 130 care. Warda, his finder, did
589. The Happy House has not know where he had gone,
a fund-raising craft fair despite her best efforts to find
and fun day at Park’s Art out. Imagine her joy at seeing
Deco Cafe, Stanley him happy, well-fed, loved and
Park, today, from thriving.
10am to 3pm jacqui.morley@
blackpoolgazette.co.uk

I
t’s been another weird week, so
join WILLIAM WATT for a round-
up of the strange stories in the
news from the past seven days...
NoW America, to me, has always
been infamous in producing it’s
fair share of nutters over the years
– especially ‘those crazy Cajun’s’ in
the south.
It doesn’t take a genius to work
that out, if you’ve ever seen the
wealth of US cop shows that grace
the likes of Channel 5.
Remember the story last year
of the woman who woke up to
find a stranger – who had climbed
through the window – getting into
bed with her?
The woman’s pot-head brother,
Antoine Dodson, later sparked
a dub remix YouTube hit of his
quote, ‘He’s climbing in your win-
dows. He’s snatchin your people up.
Y’all need to hide your kids, hide
your wife. We g’on find you, so you
can run and tell that homeboy!’
But they’ve really pulled it out
of the bag this time, producing this
creepy character.
Nineteen-year-old Louisianan,
Mark L Thompson, was this week
arrested after witnesses saw him
standing over a neighbour’s Pygmy
goat in a bedroom, albeit dressed
only in a woman’s bra and under-
wear. The goat was found to have
at least one stab wound and an eye-
witness who had gone to fetch the
wandering goat said the teenager
was, “standing there in women’s
clothing and the goat was dead. It
was just a scene”.
Police later said he, “wasn’t in
the right frame of mind” – talk
about stating the obvious!
Maybe the crazed chap had a
phobia of goats?
Speaking of phobias, my fear of
heights didn’t do me any favours
when I heard of an elderly Taiwan-
ese man who leaped to his death
on Thursday from his fifth-floor
balcony
The ‘prophet’, as he was known
by locals, met his end after becom-
ing terrified of his doomsday
prediction that the island would be
destroyed on May 11.
Taiwanese prosecutors have
since launched an investiga-
tion into Teacher Wang after his
warning sparked a rush to build
makeshift shelters from cargo
containers.
More than 100 shelters have been
built in the central Taiwanese town
of Puli after the so-called Tsunami
Prediction, sparking mass panic.
Elsewhere, by now you’ve prob-
ably heard that obama Bin Laden
has been killed by osama’s Navy
Seals.
Wait, I’m confused...
The BBC made the one letter
mistake on it’s website, scrolling
a breaking news ticker saying,
‘obama Dead’ – minutes before the
U.S president was due to make a
speech confirming the kill.
But it seems that it’s not only
the BBC that can’t spell. American
news channels MSNBC and ABC
were also reported to have made
the spelling blunder. I wish we
could go back to the days when
jernalists knew how to spel...
MONDAY: Taking
Stock with Rob Stocks