The time to get to school in Bois Negresse to outsiders will be significantly reduced when the new school is ready for the school start in September. It will be easier to visit, easier to help. I'll be back with some posts to the Bois Negresse shortly. I'm just going through the material from my three or four visits to the school. And that project is really special to visit.

I today start with a few portraits of some children who are helped by the Star of Hope. In this remote place, I get to me that people look a little different than other projects that Star of Hope supports. Do not know what it is but hope to return to the matter soon. Is it due to the cooler mountain climate? These pics are from my first visit in 2009.

The sewing school that started in the Haitian village Boyer 2010 was an instant success. It was a direct response to the various development projects in the backwater of the tragic earthquake that year. Star of Hope Country Manager Myrtha Dor was and is also the teacher since she is recognized as a good seamstress.

More than 30 young people graduated in summer 2011, and some of the students currently have revenue through their new skills. Good! In the autumn of 2011 the new sewing school started in the Jeanton village. It also became an instant success. Students there will graduate in a few weeks.

In the autumn of 2012 to Star of Hope is to launch another sewing school in a new village. In order to proceed with these sewing projects more resources are needed. You can give a gift here.

Below are some pictures from the sewing school in Boyer 2010-2011:

The new classrooms at Star of Hope School in Infanta in the Philippines are getting ready. They should be fully ready for the new school year starting June 13. Construction began in March. The above picture shows how it looked then. The new classrooms are added at the far left in the picture.

Star of Hope School in Infanta was inaugurated in 2009 and has five classrooms, toilets, running water, a library and a nice playground. During the academic year 2011 - 2012 the school had about 80 students in elementary school grades 1-5.

Infanta was severely hit by a typhoon in 2004 and claimed 2,000 lives and robbed survivors of the few possessions they had, as houses and livestock. Star of Hope went in with emergency relief assistance to 1,500 families. In 2006, Star of Hope built 300 houses in Infanta and later a school. Star of Hope has continued to support the community ever since.

 Below are some pictures from the school in Infanta:

My journey with Star of Hope began a late summer evening 1996 when I was introduced to a Jossi. She had recently been to the Philippines, she told me in an engaged way for hours about the country, the people and the Star of Hope good work there among the poor.

I had long wanted to support any development organization. Star of Hope felt right immediately after listening to Jossi.

A few days later Star of Hope was contacted and I became sponsor to a little girl in the poor district of Crame in the megacity Manila. More on her later, but she has now graduated college.

I had great connection with Star of Hope right away and the staff was helpful with my questions and more.

It turned out that some of my friends were on vacation to the Philippines in spring 1997. I asked Star of Hope whether it was possible to visit Star of Hope schools, and my sponsor kid. Of course the staff said. I got the contact information and faxed to the Philippines about my visit. Got an answer within a few days that I was welcome. I booked my ticket and packed my bag.

End of Part 1.
Some pictures from the Star of Hope preschool in Crame and its graduation ceremony in March this year. More pictures on Flickr.

Today is Mother's Day in some places around the world. I've been to several countries where Star of Hope works when it has been Mother's Day and we have then handed out gifts of various kinds. There have been various types of needed supplies, flowers, or packages sent to them from overseas via Star of Hope.

Below are some pictures from Hesse in Haiti when we handed out the packages there in 2010, some months after the terrible earthquake. The packages were and are always very appreciated. Helping us back the was StarTeam members from USA.

Click here to find out how you can help mothers in need.

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