Welcome! and thank you for visiting my website. I am Scolar Wangari wa Nginya (Mama Happyness). I would like to share with you a bit about myself and of my vision for MamaHappyness.com.

I was born and raised in a rural village in Gatudu division, in Central Province, Kenya. I had a humble beginning, working on the family farm herding the goats and cows. The importance of working hard, the fear of God, the value of education, and being of service to others were virtues emphasized by my parents from a very early age.

After graduating from secondary school in 1984, I was able to secure casual employment in the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) in Muguga, as a library clerk. My employers soon recognised my skill in information gathering and dissemination, and I was given responsibility for supporting agricultural scientists with their research. This fostered in me a love of abstracting information, acquiring knowledge and of serving that has stayed with me to this day.

In 1987 I was awarded a British Council Education Scholarship to study in the United Kingdom. Even at that young age, I recognised this as a once in a lifetime opportunity and had a strong sense that this was the 'universe's plan' for me as I like to call it. The following year at the age of 24 I took a place at Manchester Cosmopolitan University (then Manchester Polytechnic) to study for a degree in Library and Information Studies for three years.

My life changed dramatically – I found myself having to cope and function in an alien culture, characterised by cold weather and cold technology. I dearly missed my family, friends and my beloved country. Then one day I received a blessing in the form of a gift from a friend that really helped me to adapt, and that continues to be a source of inspiration in my life. This gift was the book 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull'. Its uplifting message of hard work, striving against the odds, and overcoming cultural conditioning to realise your dreams, resonated with a Truth I felt deep inside of me. It awakened in me a faith in a higher calling for my life. Jonathan’s journey was my journey. This began a period of intense personal exploration and I poured over a great number of books on self-development, religion, poetry and philosophy.

I graduated in 1991, returned to Kenya and resumed work at KARI. I worked as part of a team in the Library and Information Service processing and disseminating the most up-to-date agricultural information for both research scientists and farmers. Once again I felt the joy of being in service, and now I was more effective than before, which I attributed to my education and to the work I had done on myself.

This was a great lesson for me: the more one grows and develops personally, the more one has to give to others.

During this time my search for truth and happiness continued and intensified. However, despite the growing faith that there was a better way, I still felt dissatisfied with where I was. This was a period in my life when I was at war with my inner being, erroneously searching for happiness in life from outer sources. Then, in 1994 I gave birth to a daughter. I named her Happyness to signify not only what I wanted for her and for myself but also what I wanted to see in the world.

In 1996 my searching led me to return to UK --- to do what? I knew that I needed a career that would be more rewarding personally as well as financially in order to support my daughter. I wanted to continue to find a way to give expression to my desire to be of service and I eventually decided to explore working in the health and social care field. I applied for postgraduate training in occupational therapy at Queen Mary and Westfield College (St. Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry), University of London for two years. I qualified as occupational therapist in 2003 and worked as a community occupational therapist for 4 years. My love of my work, and dedication to service has enabled me to rise in my profession, and I am now working as a Mental Health Practitioner managing the provision of care to a caseload of clients with the National Health Service (NHS). I am a state registered Occupational Therapist with the Health Professional Council and a member of the British Association of Occupational Therapists.

My professional training and my growth as an individual have gone hand in hand. I have taken part in courses and workshops on coaching, mentoring, counselling and gender studies. In my role as a student educator, I take on occupational therapy students on fieldwork placement. In addition, dealing with the many challenging life circumstances of my clients has made a direct contribution to my development of compassion and self-awareness. This has led me to the realisation that service to mankind is the highest form of worship. The journey continues, but I am now aware that true happiness is to be found within.

My heart is full of gratitude for the many blessings I currently enjoy, and now I feel I am in a position where I can give and serve on a wider scale. I have a profound love for Kenya, and desire for us a better future. For the past few years I have been participating in various Kenyan groups in the UK. I have also been providing support through informal coaching and sharing my skills with friends in a casual way. And of course I offer the same support to my family and friends back home, visiting regularly.

I feel the time has come to take the next step in my career of service, giving expression to my love for Kenya in a more direct way. MamaHappyness.com is what I have chosen to be the vehicle for this. My vision is to provide a place for Kenyans the world over to connect with each other, to promote the development of Kenya as a nation through the self-development of individual Kenyans; and to encourage co-operation between developing individuals, regardless of race, religion, ethnic group or gender. When this happens, when we become better people, associating and working together, peace and prosperity will manifest of their own accord. Umoja ni nguvu! (unity is strength) I hope you will join me!

All is well; we continue to give gratitude.