Get it?

After about 30 hours of traveling, we finally arrived to Haiti this morning. It is really hot and we have now spent our first day here. First we went home to Tony and Myrtha’s place to drop our bags and have some breakfast. Directly after that we went to a pastor conference in Rigaud. We thought we were just going to sit there and listen through the meeting, but the whole thing ended up with us, standing on the stage, having flowers and a medal. They also sang two songs for us and told us that we were in their prayers. We couldn’t have had a better first day in Haiti or a warmer welcome.
We have also been guided in Port-au-Prince and are now back at Tony and Myrthas place, eating mango and watching geckos on the walls. Tony and Myrtha are talking really good care of us. We feel completely safe here. The feelings after today are mixed. Everyone is pretty taken from the first impressions. This is like another world; it already feels like Sweden is a whole other planet. From team Sweden! Maja, Maria, Kristoffer, Frida, Elin and Anna

The opening of classes this school nationwide year will be marked by the pilot implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Program, with its new curriculum. This means that all students in Philippines could have 12 years of basic education instead of 10 years.

12 years of schooling will provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.

The adoption of the program is in response to the need to improve the competitiveness the Philippines graduates as the ten-year basic education cycle is seen as inadequate for work and higher education.

The Philippines is the only country in Asia and is one of only three countries in the world with a ten-year basic education cycle. Djibouti and Angola are the other two.

Star of Hope school in Taytay has also implemented this new program. It has a lot of new challenges to keep up with, but in the long run it will benefit the students and give them a better start in life.

In addition to supporting pre-schools in Ghana Star of Hope has also helped to launch and develop several community development projects.

In the early 2000's, they gave support to women's groups in several villages. Most were various agricultural projects that give women a chance to develop their own manufacturing of various products of the vegetables they grow.

I visited Osae Kroduda 2008. There, the local women's group received financial assistance and other support for setting up a factory to make "gari" from cassava.

Women's Group's business concept is based on that they have access to cassava. They worked on the farm and saw an opportunity to make money from making and selling gari. After receiving support from Star of Hope they soon started their small business.

Gari is produced by press, filter and dry cassava. Gari is used as a base in various local dishes and stews.

The finished product is sold by the women in markets around Osae Krodua and women share the burden of work and money.

This week the school year 2012 – 2013 opened in the Philippines for the public schools. Non-government schools opens this and next week. Star of Hope school in Taytay opens June 13 and will welcome some 2,500 pupils.

The Department of Education in the Philippines welcomed 21.49 million students in public schools for the opening of classes on June 4. Last year, the actual enrolment for public schools was 20.48 million. That is an increase with 1 million students from last year. With a population growth in 2011 of almost 2 million people, the need for more schools, classrooms, and qualified teachers is always growing.

Of the expected enrollees this year, 5.76 million are secondary, 14 million are elementary, and 1.73 million are kindergarten; they will be accommodated by over 45,000 public schools nationwide.

771 schools with heavy congestion (extremely overcrowded) was expected to be trimmed down with the number of school building construction to be finished in the second half of 2012.

The Star of Hope School is be running since 1989 and is regularly renovated to keep it in good standard. This post includes some pictures from the school at Taytay.

Today I had a chance to visit the Star of Hope supported schools in Boyer and a new school named Good Shepard. even though the children are busy studying for their year end exams, they are always glad to see visitors.

This time, Tony had pencil sharpeners for Good Shepard school. You see in February the children had a visitor from Great Bend, Kansas. While visiting she saw third graders sharpening their pencils with a double edged razor blade! As a nurse she was appalled.

Upon her return she approached a business who gladly ordered the old style heavy metal pencil sharpeners that will stand up under the heavy use. I got to deliver them and help install the first!

The joy on the faces of the first children who got to "sharpen their pencils" was something to behold. They kept saying thank you as their eyes showed how amazed they were at the clean sharp points. The grins were everywhere.

Just one simple act by a sponsor who gave of her time to ask a business friend who was so glad to help. That business was Office Products inc (OPI) Great Bend. If you are in the area stop and tell them thank you on behalf of the 300 children in the Good Shepard, Haiti School.

Star of Hope has worked in Ghana since 1983 and was officially recognized and registered as a relief organization in the country by the Social Welfare 1998. This made the Star of Hope one of only five official non-governmental organizations in the country. Today there are thousands.

Star of Hope has been funded by among others Swedish government to start and implement several projects in the country. These have been the building of schools, community development programs in different fields: agriculture, water safety, small enterprise for women, health, development of personnel in various fields, teacher education.

All projects with pre-school center and Star of Hope has worked with all groups within the municipality to strengthen the whole community.

Here are some 'blackboard' pictures from various schools in the country that Star of Hope support.