Visiting their first Home

Melody now Faith

Melody and the mother

Adam and the Mother

Adam now Dennis


Blessing now known as Grace

In the process of adoption, the child being adopted has to be brought back to the home once a month for 3 months before they start the court process. This period of 3 months is what the Kenyan law calls the fostering period. Every time the children come to Happy Life, our duty is to check on how well they are bonding with their new families as well as their health. If we are not satisfied with the bonding, we extend the bonding or the fostering period until we are sure that the child has bonded quite well. Last week on Friday, we had three children coming for their visits and we were very impressed. Melody and Blessings looked great. The one time tiny Melody is walking and very fluent in her speech. Blessing who was born pre-mature and took a long time to thrive looks very good. Adam has bonded with his mother and they resemble each other like a real biological child. Melody will be two years in August while Blessing is now one year and 2 months. Adam will be one year in August. What a blessing! We get very encouraged when we see the babies we have at times struggled and raised up being in loving families. This is our mission, it gives us great joy.

Rosemary Kamau

A Hope for all children!

This past week Sharon and I had the opportunity to visit our granddaughter Elisabeth in Los Angeles. Our 1st!

What a blessing to know that she is loved to the fullest by her Dad and Mom, Christopher and Jackie; by her nearby Uncle, Adam; by her extended family and others in the LA area.

I was struck by a thought concerning abandoned children everywhere, especially those in Kenya: "Every child needs the loving care of an extended family!" How tragic it would be if our Elisabeth had to grow up not knowing this love!

This thought motivates the mission of Happy Life:

"To provide the abandoned children of Kenya a Home and a Hope for adoption!"

Thanks to all of you who contribute and pray for the ministry of Happy Life = Fred, Patience, Austin, Prince, Chris, Jessie, Lois, Emma, Joy, .....plus those children yet to come to Happy Life!



JOY



Jessie



Fred


Max




Aaron


Debbie

Plus others at Happy Life and those yet to come!

Prayer for Lois

Lois is a beautiful girl 6 yr old (above pic fairly recent) who has been at Happy Life since January 2005. Soon after her birth, her dad brought her to the Nairobi Children's Home with a letter stating that he would return in three years to take her home.

Several years ago while Sharon and I were at happy life we asked about her not yet being adopted. Rosemary, the Happy Life Administrator, said that many have wanted to adopt her but have not been able since she does not yet have the adoption papers.


Because of the letter from the dad, Lois is not eligible for adoption. Several times Happy Life has asked the authorities to take the necessary steps to declare Lois adoptable. As of this date some efforts in locating the father have taken place but nothing has been decided. Please pray that the authorities either locate her dad and have her reunited with him or to declare her adoptable.

If you were to visit Happy Life today, you would find it easy to spot the girl with a beautiful smile! Very likely she would be caring for one of the younger children: she is the "youngest of the mothers".

CAN YOU IMAGINE HAVING 40
CHILDREN ON 1/4 OF AN ACRE?

The Lord has surely blessed the ministry!

Our newest building is almost completely ready for its full use! Plus we have 2 cows, 2 young bulls, 30 chickens.....

With the ranch house in the foreground and the new building we will be able to provide a home for 80 abandoned children.

Looking ahead to Phase III

We realize that our current property is too crowded; especially for the kids that are 3-6 years of age.

Our goal is to purchase 5-6 acres of land a little further away from Nairobi (land is less expansive) and to over a period of years develop a campus more suitable for the 3-6 year olds as they wait to be adopted.

The first part of Phase III (Phase I was the purchase of the ranch house; Phase II was the construction of the new building) will be to build suitable "cottages" for the kids in which 5-7 will live "as a family" with a set of "parents". Our goal is to construct a 2-story building: each floor having two 2-bedroom units that will share a common living room area. This structure will enable us to provide a family like setting for approximately 28 children.

Also in the beginning parts of Phase III we will build a multipurpose building for some staff to oversee the ministry.

As the kids will need schooling, we will build a fairly small 2-room school building for our kids and also for neighboring children who will be charged a fee to attend.

Much of the 5-6 acres will be used for farming activities to both provide food for our kids but also food that can be sold to the local community: cows; chickens; various crops.

Please consider how you will be able to help finance this project: we are looking for foundation grants, donations, and no-interest loans.

As our "older" kids wait to be adopted, we want them to be able to run, play, collect eggs, help in the fields...