Tuesday 22 May 2012

Bringing you the blog .. with a helping hand

Bringing you the blog, as I have said before, is my daily dose of Kenyan sunshine.
It cannot always be good news, it is physically and emotionally challenging for Mama Sue and all of us involved in running a charity which is saving children's lives. We tell it as it is.
We do have an uphill struggle on our hands over the next few months in raising in the money we need to give the Happy House family a cushion of cash in the bank to meet those unforeseen expenses, which can crop up at any time, in any family, as and when they occur and also to raise the money we need to finish the building work on the primary school.
The primary school build is on hold, now the roof is completed and it is weatherproof.  We were lucky enough to have been given the money we have spent on it so far as a generous donation given for that specific purpose last year.
But, as we have already explained, costs in Kenya have escalated just as they have elsewhere in the world and the increase in the the cost of materials has forced our decision to stop for the time being. Mama, as you know, is a very astute and prudent businesswoman.
Mama, Papa and I are now back in the UK and will start work in earnest ,this week, on getting a fundraising plan in place.
Please, please let us have your ideas for any fundraisers you would like to help with, any large companies or trusts we could approach for donations or with contacts you may have to help us get the major publicity in national print titles, tv or radio.
We cannot possibly raise the money and awareness we need without the help and love YOU so generously and genuinely give to our family.
Please email me: elizabethgomm@childrenofwatamu.net or Sue on sue@childrenofwatamu.net
It is strange, today, to be writing the blog in the silence of my kitchen ... without the distant hum of our children singing or playing.
At the Happy House there's never total silence. Even when the kids are in school, their voices carry on the breeze. 
When I am in the UK, Uncle Billy, Auntie Rose and Auntie Velma send me pictures and snippets of news for the blog so that you know day-to-day what is happening and when.
They are fantastic, understanding as they do why the blog has become so important to so many of our supporters, but I think they may have to watch their backs.  There's a new kid on the block ready to steal their limelight.
Just look at our Harry, two next month, and already getting handy with a keyboard.... a cub reporter, if ever I saw one!