Brought up and educated in Brazzaville, The Congo, by missionaries. A war has broken out... Everything is destroyed, the town devastated, there is nothing to be found anywhere. However with courage the sisters go back to work, open the nursery and primary schools without any materials. They send out an SOS to ex-pupils of which I am one. Since that time I am running around the shops with my limited means of a retired person. Paints, folding books, etc. etc.... meetings with the people who will carry my packages to Brazza. And in return I receive letters and drawings from little children thanking me and calling me godmother and sometimes mother, this is happiness !!!
What makes them or has made them happy?
What makes me happiest is the love of my future husband who, despite leukemia, helps me to get through life.
Lucie , 33 years old, Deux-Montagnes (Canada)What makes me happy is finding the right temperature of water in the shower right away… I hate cold showers…
Julien , 19 years old, Rennes (France)I am learning to develop my ability to « not define » life, to melt into it rather than dominate it… and by so doing… I learn to love… and the more I love… the happier I am every day!
What made me happy was to meet, totally by chance, the man who is now my husband. Thanks to fate, every day is a happy day.
Ghania , 27 years old, Alger (Algérie)What makes me happy is finally getting to use the internet !
Jean-Claude , 68 years old, Bagneres-de-Bigorre (France)What makes me happy is when my husband tells me “I love you more than my life!”
Magalie , 23 years old, Marrakech (Maroc)What fills me with joy is simply that a smile from me can make my companion happy and make him smile too.
Séverine , 27 years old, Bordeaux (France)What makes me happy ? The field of grapefruit in pink mornings.
Damien , 24 years old, Lille (France)What made me happy was rowing with my father one night with a full moon, at 4 in the morning, in the Parana delta in Argentina.
Eugénie , 27 years old, Buenos Aires (Argentine)What makes me happy is reading happython every morning in class. That puts me in a good mood for the rest of the day.
Laure , 20 years old, Lyon (France)
My happiness is complete when I let the metro pass to keep kissing my love on the latform...telling myself that I'll take it maybe the next day or the day after that.
Sandra , 28 years old, Paris (France)What makes me happy is my little 80-year-old mother, who is chock full of joyful projects : she's going to move into a new appartment.
Odile , 45 years old, Renay (France)What makes me happy is freedom of thought and see how deep and creative and generous people can be when they are free.
Poly , 29 years old, Paris (France)I'm against peoples' oppression and I want them to be free, so I am happy when there is justice on earth,…
Siham , 32 years old, Casablanca (Maroc)What makes me happy, you see, is that I live fully in the present moment. I savor each minute with pure delicacy, that's all!
Isabelle , 28 years old, Drummondville (Canada)What makes me happy is spending time with my friends, going out with them, sharing my deepest thoughts with them and feeling their trust.
Fabrice , 18 years old, Marseille (France)The day when my daughter Nouha was born, on July 4th, 2004 made me happy.
Saadane , 31 years old, Ferdjioua (Algérie)
What makes me happy is really knowing that one day I'll have enough power to spread love and happiness.
Meriama , 15 years old, Marrakech (Maroc)
What makes me happy is thinking of the happy future waiting for me somewhere in the universe.
Isabelle , 21 years old, Toulouse (France)What makes me happy is sharing my newspaper with a neighbor on the metro who reads it over my shoulder.
Etienne , 21 years old, paris (France)What makes me happy is life... the simplicity of people... their joy of living and the smiles that surround me... I want to be happy with them like with myself... I want to live in the moment without ever forgetting the past that made me grow up so well.
Kalina , 23 years old, Laval (Canada)What makes me happy is seeing that the head of a busy bar can stop working for two minutes because he saw a blind man trying desperately to walk across a crosswalk and help him cross arm in arm… that really make me happy to witness scenes like that ! Long live solidarity between people of all horizons !!
Greg , 20 years old, Nice (France)Having brought to light a vocation. My son was studying Sociology and Economic Sciences at the University of Jussieu. One summer I forced him to work in a hospital to earn some pocket money. He dropped his studies to study at the I.F.S.I. (Nurses Training School) Today, at 25 he is happy, his job is a true vocation. His patients are happy and me too, I'm happy
My happiness has already lasted for a long time. It renews itself every morning when I go to sample a cup of tea in one of the many Parisian cafés. It's a moment of pure joy, I let myself lapse into dreams in the ambiance of the cafes, and I can no longer do without it.
Nicole , 57 years old, Paris (France)
What makes me happy is the idea of not waking up early in the morning, not taking the bus to school, not working, because studying too much can kill, but I do it anyway, I'm still happy.
Thomas , 15 years old, Aix-en-Provence (France)What makes me happy is breathing deep and seeing a smile appear on my face while I realize that it's good to live, something I had forgotten for a moment.
Annaïg , 25 years old, Lorient (France)What makes me happy is listening to Metallica while petting a kitten.
Pauline , 20 years old, Toulouse (France)What makes me happy is to share my newspaper with somebody next to me in the tube that reads over my shoulder!
What makes me happy is seeing my girlfriend in the morning on the train tell me « until tonight, my love, » and then leave listening to Chuck Berry singing « Johnny B. Goode. »
Nicolas , 18 years old, Toulouse (France)What makes me happy : all the young people getting involved in the life of a new family…and those babies continuing life.
Brigitte , 50 years old, Chatellerault (France)Most importantly a woman in my life and then my studies that have made me the person I am now.
Ahmed , 50 years old, Oran (Algérie)What makes me happy is when in the dreams' fall when the breath of the day raises my eyelids, I'm aware that the moment when finally I'll be free is close. Every minute, every second that goes by is a step towards our reunion, my darling, my Night, my life.
I am happy because I found my P50 motorcycle that I had lost.
Paula , 29 years old, Ouagadougou (Burkina-Faso)What makes me happy is to have my family around: my parents Fouzia and Ahmed, my sisters Souad and Malek, and my brothers Hamdi and Faouzi! May God bless them all!
Amira , 26 years old, Monastir (Tunisie)
My five year old daughter told me : « Mommy, when you die, I will take all my treasures and I will give them to you when you return as a little baby. » That day, I felt a great surge of happiness
Rebecca , 34 years old, Melun (France)What makes me happy is seeing middle aged couples still walking together hand in hand.
Andrée , 56 years old, Sevran (France)
What makes me happy is to please to my parents so that they are proud of me. Thank you Dad and Mum, I'm madly in love with you!!!
What made me happy, it is when I was elected Miss France 2003 on december 14, 2002 and my great pleasure was when I saw my mother after that. In her eyes I could see how proud and happy she was. I think it is the most beautiful present I can offer her.
Corinne , 20 years old, Paris (France)I have just come out of a coma. Here it is : happiness is to be alive again.
Laura , 38 years old, Lille (France)My wife makes me happy… She helped me to discover what real life is like!!!
Nacer , 34 years old, Chlef (Algérie)What makes me happy is telling myself every morning, while reading the Happython, that I am not the only one who thinks like this.
Nicolas , 22 years old, Nice (France)Hello everyone, what made me happy this summer was just swimming in the lake with warm sunbeams... letting myself be carried softly away by small waves.I find that that's complete happiness.. it's peace, calm, joy, it's relaxing... it's being happy... and all of that accompanied by my dear husband xxx -ps: the heat is much easier to stand that way hmm...
Sylvie , 35 years old, Marieville (Canada)What makes me happy is finally being myself in my own eyes and in the eyes of my loved ones.
Didier , 34 years old, Paris (France)
It's my children that make me happy : my son Samuel, who is 1, and my daughter Mélissa-Jade, who is 14, they are the most precious things I have on Earth.
Guylaine , 38 years old, Montréal (Canada)What makes me happy ? Sitting between others, while I feel a little wind on my face and watch the sunset.
Méliza , 19 years old, La Prairie (Canada)
What makes me happy is having discovered Happython planet ! and sharing my happiness with others. I have hope for the best days.
Sandra , 27 years old, Paris (France)Happiness is when I see my mother again, for whom I'll always be the same kid (even if I'm not this kid anymore) and to see her face lighting up and smiling.
Mehdi , 27 years old, Tunis (Tunisie)What makes me happy is that my three and a half year old son gets angry if someone wants to smush an insect or when he asks us to be quiet to not scare a bird.
Marie-Noëlle , 32 years old, Ham-sous-Varsberg (France)Hearing someone whistle will always be for me, synonymous with happiness. Thans Papy.
Mélanie , 21 years old, Toulouse (France)This is great !! The virus of happiness !! I'd like to give you my own definition of happiness... : “Happinees is like a butterfly. If you run after it, it will escape... But if you let it be, it will land softly on your shoulder...”
Louise , 42 years old, Chicoutimi (Canada)Surprising my brother and seeing the happiness on his face, that's enough to make me happy.
Kamila , 28 years old, Marseille (France)What makes me happy is feeling so small in front of a stormy ocean, smelling the spray on my face : I simply feel content, and I realize the futility of all my little everyday worries.
Marcelle , 62 years old, Québec (Canada)
Lots of things make me happy : I bought an appartment, I slept with a girl and I stopped smoking !
Lolie , 21 years old, Paris (France)A kind of happiness that will never pass away is giving birth to a child, it is the most beautiful happiness to my mind.
Evelyne , 46 years old, Namur (Belgique)What makes me happy is seeing the popcorn head of my love waking up.
Hélène , 30 years old, Lyon (France)What makes me feel really happy is to be free to act, speak and realise my dreams.
Hazar , 26 years old, Tunis (Tunisie)Surprising a little sparrow while he's taking a bath in a puddle of water, that's what makes me really happy.
Céline , 22 years old, Langoiran (France)What makes me happy is snakes and when my parents accepted to get one at home.
Valentin , 8 years old, Mons-en-Baroeul (France)What makes me happy!!! Well, I'm only 17 years old, so my happiness is far from complete, but I'll say that what makes me happy is seeing people smile.
Mary , 17 years old, Terrebonne (Canada)What makes me happy is that, despite all the world's problems, there are at least 20318 happy people.
Audrey , 18 years old, Bordeaux (France)What makes me happy, hmm... The first is waking up and seeing sunbeams... the second is payday... the third is my last day at work!
Chantal , 33 years old, Saint-Léonard (Canada)What makes me happy is chatting with my aunt on the internet and seeing her smile thanks to the webcam.
Mélanie , 20 years old, Toulon (France)What made me happy was when I could walk again for the first time after my operation, when I had been paralyzed.
Jocelyne , 40 years old, Lourches (France)What makes me happy is the generosity of people who support Florence Aubenas and Hussein Hanoun. Finally solidarity doesn't end.
Lulu , 21 years old, Aubenas (France)What makes me happy is seeing my reflection in the eyes of my son.
Vincent , 25 years old, Madrid (Espagne)Breathing everyday and going with the flow of my dailyjourney enjoying a beautiful sunny day and if possible near the sea, the lake or a river.
Monique , 46 years old, Heisdorf (Luxembourg)I'm a naturally happy person because I've learnt to see only the nice and positive side of what happens.
Mustapha , 56 years old, Oran (Algérie)0n Saint Valentin's night I decided to make love with a 40-year-old man. I was his little princess, I desired him so much that I was afraid. I was trembling. He made love with me as none had ever done . On that night I saw the wolf : happy.
Amira , 25 years old, Paris (France)What makes me happy is seeing my daughters happy and in good health
Lilou , 33 years old, Montréal (Canada)
What makes me happy is telling myself that there are places where everything is simple and less heavy than this place, and that can be here if I want it to be.
Eugène , 21 years old, Dargnies (France)What made me happy is when I was offered a chimpanzee, which was my dearest dream.
Ophélie , 21 years old, Valenciennes (France)