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 !!!
How to propagate the Virus of Happiness?
In fact, it's quite simple !
- Answer this question; "What makes, or has made you, happy?" and become a Happiness Agent
- You earn some "Points Of Presence" (POP)
- You invest your Points in the city of your choice
- You spead the Virus of Happiness around the world.
What is the virus of happiness and how it works?
About Happython
The answers of many people were printed and then exposed-pinned on clothes dryers called "Porte-Bonheurs".
These exhibitions took place in galleries, public places, post offices and finally on the web.
The idea of a Happening Record of happy moments has germinated: the Happython and the Happiness Virus have been created!
For more than 20 years, tens of thousands of people between the ages of 2 and 109 from all over the world have testified about what makes them happy.
Now it’s your turn!
What makes them or has made them happy?
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 to talk to people and to learn something from them.
Sofiane , 30 years old, Béjaïa (Algérie)The happiest day of my live was when I left the hole I was hidden in for a month during the war in Rwanda. That day, the sun shone like it will no longer and the breeze was a caress that no man has ever given me. It was June 21, 1994 around 3 :00 p.m. I was 14.
Prisca , 26 years old, Brunoy (France)To feel loved by my surroundings and to be able to return that love makes me happy.
Maria-Selva , 26 years old, Madrid (Espagne)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 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 makes me happy is being at the foot of a mountain or a hill and looking at the summit telling it « Soon !, », then marching on to sweat, breathe, suffer a little, climb up to that summit and tell yourself : « I did it. Thank you ». Just a challenge between you and nature. That's one of the most beautiful things in the world.
Guillaume , 25 years old, Caen (France)What makes me happy is after washing my hands, to dry them in the hot air of the hand dryer. That marks a nice pause in my day.
Julie , 20 years old, Lyon (France)
To be happy, I need calm and tranquillity, to be loved and love, sunshine and perfect happiness ( a little water, some fruit, my garden on my island) and peace in the world.
Marie-Émilie , 54 years old, Bruxelles (Belgique)After going on holidays alone, I come back home and I find my dog. It makes me happy.
Myriam , 19 years old, Longjumeau (France)
What makes me happy at this moment is that I have got rid of everything in Paris, my job and a hard life, to retire and live in Tunisia at a wonderful man's side.
Françoise , 52 years old, Rades (Tunisie)What makes me happy is to see the smile of people I like and the sunset. It's to hear the voices melody and children laughing. It's to smell flowers perfume and that of hot coffee. It's to feel under my fingers the softness of the skin and the grains of a fine sand beach…
What makes me happy is seeing all the cherry trees blooming in Japan, and telling myself that nothing is more beautiful and nothing pleases us more than this langourous pink…
Alex , 20 years old, Nice (France)What makes me happy is seeing my sweetie smile while reading the Happython each day.
Lilou , 21 years old, Paris (France)What makes me happy is to get up in the morning and thank God for letting me sleep in peace.
Rabah , 31 years old, Grenoble (France)What makes me happy : walking with your eyes closed to feel the natural elements.
Stéphane , 24 years old, Gradignan (France)
What makes me happy is doing a task that, I feel, fits with me and my personnality.
Anna , 45 years old, Naples (Italie)Hearing someone whistle will always be for me, synonymous with happiness. Thans Papy.
Mélanie , 21 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 the shivers I get when I hear a song that moves me.
Cécile , 16 years old, Orleans (France)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 feel really happy is to be free to act, speak and realise my dreams.
Hazar , 26 years old, Tunis (Tunisie)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 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 happiest is the fact that a child can be born from me and that one day I'll have little toes in my belly...
Claire , 22 years old, Montréal (Canada)One of the things I like to do is ….don't laugh at me ! It is to take off the shell of hard-boiled eggs. I adore that and it makes me happy.
Lilou , 33 years old, Montréal (Canada)To feel loved by my surroundings and to be able to return that love makes me happy.
Maria-Selva , 26 years old, Madrid (Espagne)A child's spinning top on the carpet. What a pleasure to approach it, having watched it from afar, the memories coming back of those exquisite moments where colours mingled and filled rainbow eyes. I lean over, touch the top and play with it and that simple pleasure warms my heart, it turns, turns, turns...
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 to have been able to get a good education « educazione » !
Daniela , 32 years old, Ancône (Italie)What makes me happy is little everyday moments like for example : sitting on the edge of a lake and contemplating nature, horsebackriding in the woods, among other examples.
Carine , 32 years old, Granby (Canada)
What makes me happy is that people read the little Happython phrases that I cut out of the newspaper and paste on the walls in my bathrooms. Even Charlotte, who is preschool, sometimes takes more than twenty minutes.
Maïwenn , 28 years old, Champigny-sur-Marne (France)What makes me happy is to eat everyday with my friends, each bite is for me a breath of life.
Estefania , 18 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)This morning, while feeding my fish, the ingrates finally recognized me ! I was crazy with joy ! (laughs)
Marie , 31 years old, Paris (France)What makes me happy is when my neighbour kindly offers me « tourtisseaux » to thank me for a small favour.
Annie , 47 years old, Paris (France)What makes me happy is that when I walk in the street, my steps are exactly as long as the bands on the crosswalk. I feel like I'm in harmony with my environment
So , 22 years old, Levallois-Perret (France)Wednesday afternoon, I visit my grand mother at the old folks home. Our walk in the park brings us closer. Seeing her smile and her joy makes me 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 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)
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.
Soizic , 24 years old, Montréal (Canada)Someone who is able to listen to you, to have a discussion with you. Also to be able to open your heart to someone who knows about human qualities.
Fathi , 45 years old, Sfax (Tunisie)lived my greatest happiness after having gone through a period of depression. I walk outside and I kneeled before the color of the starry sky and I told myself: God it's beautiful!
Yann , 35 years old, Toulouse (France)What makes me happy is eating calamari beignets in the university restaurant.
Lora , 18 years old, Versailles (France)To feel the blending of warmth and cool in a summer evening, to drink a cool beer, to eat spiced olives, to hear my friends laugh, for me, that is happiness (in summer).
Emilie , 22 years old, Montpellier (France)What makes me happy is to see this little twig of a woman who is my mother smile and laugh, each time it's…
Heïdi , 21 years old, Villeurbanne (France)
A particular moment in the summer of 2002 really made me happy. My father and I went fishing to the little river going near my childhood's village, in rocky canyons. He fishes with the hand since he was a little boy and this year I was also successful when I got a fish with my hand. The atmosphere and this moment of complicity both made me reach heaven.
Françoise , 22 years old, Vietri di Potenza (Italie)
Getting married to someone I love. A nice trip with my family. Having a good job!
Fatia , 24 years old, Sidi Bel Abbès (Algérie)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)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)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)What makes me happy, it is in the morning when I wake up in my lover's arms and he kisses me lovingly
Olympia , 32 years old, Paris (France)What makes me happy is to see the smile of people I like and the sunset. It's to hear the voices melody and children laughing. It's to smell flowers perfume and that of hot coffee. It's to feel under my fingers the softness of the skin and the grains of a fine sand beach…
Yesterday it rained, I strolled along the ocean, a photo was taken, a kiss, a laugh, warmed up again in a cafe, shared a chocolate cake and cherry tea.
Nelly , 26 years old, Nantes (France)
I'm in college prep, and what makes me happy is that my scores went from 2 over 20 to 4 over 20. I tell myself then, that now I see the fruits of my labors.
Laly , 18 years old, Paris (France)What makes me happy is telling myself that I am going to see the man of my dreams on my right during my classes.
Clémentine , 18 years old, Gennevilliers (France)
What makes me happy …To share a meal and an evening with friends.
Mado , 43 years old, Verviers (Belgique)What makes me happy is when I find myself in the mountains again, simply in nature.
Manon , 36 years old, Verdun (France)