Star of Hope is a not-for-profit organization that positively changes the lives of children world-wide.

Last week the UN rejected compensation claims by victims of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has killed around 8,000 people and infected 600,000. Evidence suggests cholera was introduced through a UN base's leaking sewage pipes.

Maybe this sound cold-hearted after all the suffering the country had over the last decades, but it was right as a legal matter.

The goal of Star of Hope's preschool activities in Trinidad is to give poor children the skills necessary to be able to get into the primary school, so that in future they will be able to control their own lives. The Star of Hope's nursery, the children also a receives nutritious food. We simply want to give them a good start in life, as all children deserve.

This year Star of Hope in Trinidad celebrates 25 years, as well as preschool Maloney who has been there from the beginning. The preschool in St. Joseph is celebrating 10 years. We want to give more children a chance to get a good start in life, so if you want to help us with this please contact us.

Around the world millions of people lack access to safe drinking water. They spend hours fetching water from wells, streams and other sources. They walk for miles on steep narrow paths. And very often the water they bring home is not even clean…

As I wrote the other day it seems that the severe cholera crisis in Haiti do not budge. Nearly 250,000 people can be affected by the water-borne disease this year. 7,000 people have been killed since the fall of 2010.

Some experts expect that a proper system for water and sanitation in Haiti would cost around $ 1 billion.

Clean water is our most important social function. Clean drinking water is man's first and greatest need. The Star of Hope plan for a better Haiti is to have safe drinking water in the projects where we work. It is a very important and central point.

When the cholera outbreak began in autumn 2010, Star of Hope acted quickly. There were several short-term solutions: we treated water, we did cholera vaccination and implemented simple but effective hand wash stations, known as "Tippy Taps".

The long-term plan was and is that all projects should have access to safe drinking water through wells, cisterns and other solutions. Star of Hope has come a long way, but still several projects needs wells and more.

If you want to help with the Star of Hope's long-term plan, find out how you can help:

http://www.starofhopeusa.org/give/projects/790-water-project.html

Star of Hope is proud to participate in global handwashing day! Our tippy tap education in Haiti following the cholera outbreak prevented deaths among the children in Boyer and Jeanton, Haiti.

For the little it costs, the tippy tap is one of the most effective health measures we can take. You can be a part of this intriguing health initiative. Even a small gift can provide soap for a family or a school. Check out the article we have posted on the website.