Joy Second visit to Happylife

Isnt she lovely! Joy does not remember her initial name since her new name is Mary Wambui but she is the same lovely and joyous girl who will bring a smile to everyone around her. Her adoptive Mum is very happy and lacks word to describe the joy she has in getting this precious daughter; she says, "everyone loves her."

What is Happening? - Privelege

Happy Life Children's Home has been a home for abandoned children for the last nine years. Right now we have a capacity of 50 children. Most of the children are admitted here when they are very young (below two months old) owing to the fact that most of the babies are abandoned immediately after birth. Some actually are admitted the very same day they are born. I don't understand what is happening, because late we have been admitting children who are abandoned when they are older; around 1- 3 years old; this is shocking! May be its because of the high poverty levels but this may not fully justify it. The previous week, we admitted baby Privelege but we call him "Prive" - about 2- 2 1/2 years old. This is not the first case but we have seen this trend in the recent past and we can only wonder. Privelege, is very happy to have sisters, brothers and loving mums. I think even before he was physically abandoned, he had already been emotionally abandoned and that has made him very comfortable and happy being at Happylife. Our mission continues "WE give Hope to the abandoned babies."

Rosemary Kamau
HLCH, Administrator

Please Pray for the health of our children!

There are many factors that lead up to the difficult decision a Kenyan woman makes to abandon or give her child over to the authorities: HIV; drought that leads to hunger; 50% unemployment; drugs and alcohol; extreme poverty......

It is not difficult to envision the conditions that these unborn babies and those babies recently born must endure. Many of the babies who come to Happy Life have a variety of conditions that have affected their health: skin problems; malnutrition; upper respiratory problems; malaria; birth defects....... 22 babies have died since our beginnings in 2002.

Sifa and Timothy have been in a local hospital for several weeks and are making good progress. They both have a virus called "Lota Virus" that has been prevalent in the area. Please pray that Sifa and Timothy quickly recover!

Sifa was found abandoned near a stream at Githurai 45 by a Good Samaritan named Alice. She stayed with the baby for several days since she did not know what she was supposed to do. She later reported the case was at Kia-mumbi police station, who referred her to Kasarani Children’s office. The child was about 7 weeks old on admission at HLCH. She is healthy and doing well.

Timothy was found abandoned at Githurai 45on 3rd September 2010, having been put in a plastic bag. Timothy was about 1 ½ months- 2 months old. The case was reported at Kasarani police station by a Good Samaritan named Rose. On the same day, he was admitted at HLCH and he is a healthy boy who is growing very well.