The hospital “Pyongyang Baby home” also received goods at the Star of Hope relief in North Korea in 2003. Dr. Mun Chang Un showed us the products they received. We took off our shoes and put on white coats before we went in to the patient department.

Dr. Mun said the following about the hospital founded in 1980: It has 1,500 patient beds. 500 is for children, 1,000 are occupied by women. It is not only births to take care of there. It has also various gynecological departments, and about 15,000 women get through here every year. 50-60 children were born every day.

They have received technical assistance from China, India, Russia and Thailand. They have received lab equipment from Sweden.

They were very happy about the goods they got through Star of Hope, but they were still missing a lot. Their needs included vitamins and ultrasound machines. There was a great need for antibiotics - especially to the mothers who do cesarean which is a full 15% of all births.

Dr. Mun said that a full 12% of births are premature and that it was due to women's poor health. Dr. Mun showed us the premature children. They were very small!

I also found out that a seven years old kid in South Korea weight about 20 pounds more than a kid from North Korea on average. And the kids in South Korea is on avergare 8 inches taller than the North Korean kids. Big numbers.

I have met many children and young people in various difficult situations. One of the worst meetings for me was a meeting with three month old Luyono. It was in Kenya in 2008. We met during a visit to the dump in Kibarani outside the coastal town of Mombasa. He was laying in the lap of her mother Asha.

Asha sat in the shade inside the garbage dump and sold changaa (homemade alcohol). She brewed it herself and sold to those who worked at the dump. Everything was done with little Luyono in the lap.

Asha had five children, two went to a preschool where Star of Hope did some extra work efforts. Two pictures of the siblings:

I WILL HELP

Also Nampo Children Boarding School with slightly older children received clothes and food from the Star of Hope disaster relief in 2003. Nampo Children Boarding School is located on the beautiful country surrounded by low mountains and green hills. We drove into the area that had a basketball court and a soccer field.

In total, here lived and studied 212 children. 111 of them were 7-11 years old and went to primary school (4 year grades), 101 were 12-17 years old and went to secondary school (six grades).

The subjects studied by the children included Korean, math, science, electronics and gymnastics. Students in secondary school also read English.

They got this time following the Star of Hope:
Clothes, sugar, cooking oil, rice, soybeans, meal and supplements.

I privately bought pens to all the kids with a little difficulty. It was not like going to the first available shop to buy. You had to ask permission to go to a store where foreigners like I could shop.

But it all worked out and the kids were happy. They also received two soccer balls which was very appreciated. It was very interesting to meet these children.

I have during my travels with Star of Hope met a number of children. In 2005, I was in Montes Claros, Brazil, where it all began for the Star of Hope. At the nice nursery there I met Daniel Almeida, six years young.

Daniel was a lively and cheerful guy. Recognized myself in him from my childhood. Always on the move, could not sit still. Spirited, curious, restless and mischievous. Daniel was ambitious and talented, he was talented in the classroom despite his restlessness.

I was at the home of the family who was the poor and problematic. His father had pulled when he did not stand the pressure to be the breadwinner, which unfortunately is very common among the poor. So Daniel's mother took care of Daniel, plus three sisters. In the house also lived two teenage cousins ??who both given birth, and whose boyfriends then pulled. Tragic.

The house they lived in was cramped and dark, and the family spent much time on the street, so even Daniel where he played soccer with neighborhood boys after school ended at 3 pm every day. Otherwise, he liked music and was hoping to learn to play an instrument for real in the future.

Star of Hope delivered in autumn 2003 supplies to various orphanages, hospitals and other institutions in North Korea when it was a famine there. I was there to inspect so deliveries gone as they should. It was exciting and a whole new world, one can say for sure.

One of the places that we have delivered goods to was "Nampo City Children Orphanage." They had received cooking oil, sugar and dietary supplements that would have been enough 12-18 months, clothes and shoes to all the kids for at least a year. The orphanage director was very grateful.

90% of the 106 children who lived at the orphanage were orphans, the others come from very poor backgrounds where parents could not take care of their children. All children were aged 6-7 years, but they looked much younger. Clearly they had suffered / or were suffering from malnutrition.

There were enough staff but they had a lack of resources but did their best to take care of the children as good as they could.

One of the children was Kim, 7 years old. He, like all other children in the classroom, was very shy when I came in and was introduced. Kim was an orphan, and he had lived at the orphanage a few years. He had shelter and food for the day, which was nice to see. The meeting was short because we had a very tight schedule, but I wonder to this day what happened to Kim and the other children. It is of course virtually impossible to get some information about that, but it would be interesting to know.

It is now three years after the terrible earthquake in Haiti. Many positive things have happened. Factories are being built, hotels are being built, the infrastructure, including better roads and the internet has improved.

But still 350,000 people living in tents in and around the capital Port-au-Prince, and many countries have not sent the money they promised after the earthquake. One can understand that the Haitians are tired of the countries that promised much and delivered little.

Haiti has for many years been one of the poorest countries in the world. It depends on many things. But why should this poor country and people be affected by such a disaster?
I have been to Haiti several times both before and after the earthquake. It is poor, dirty and much misery. At the same time a wonderful and helpful people. It is difficult for most people to get out of the bottom of the swamp. They try, but it's hard.

I have seen poverty in many parts of the world, but not as in Haiti. And I've seen it up close. Children dying of AIDS, dying of cholera, children living and begging on the street for survival.

I have met and talked with many people in the projects sponsored by Star of Hope, especially children about their difficult circumstances and mishaps. Many do not have access to either food, water or toilet. The only hot food some children get each day is the school lunch at Star of Hope's schools.

Large parts of the population in Haiti lives day by day. They can not plan for the future. They live from hand to mouth. They consume immediately everything they can get. The small crops they grow, they try to sell and then buy cooking oil and other necessary things for survival. Approximately 80% of the population live on less than two dollars a day.

The only asset many people have is a goat or a cow that they managed to save up for. Many handles a goat as their bank book, sold only in the worst emergencies. They sell the offspring to get some income if necessary. And if a man earns two dollars a month and receives 60-100 U.S. dollars from the sale of a goat, it can make a big difference.

Therefore, Star of Hope's goat and chicken program that started 2008 is very appreciated. About 900 goats have been distributed and about 800 chickens.

Many are fleeing the countryside trying to find a job and a living in the city where it happens. There are many possibilities most people think. That's why many people remain in tent camps in Port-au-Prince. They hope and believe that they will have a new home in the city.

Star of Hope has consciously during all the years they have worked in Haiti focused on the poor in rural villages. It has been working closely with the villages groups and planning efforts together. Star of Hope to continue this work. The goat program is just a way to help farmers to remain in the villages. We have also distributed seed, had tools banks and trainings for them.

However, the large Star of Hope focuses on education. Currently Star of Hope supports about 3 000 children in eight projects in Haiti. They receive education and school lunch in the new school premises with new desks and further trained teachers. All children received school supplies. They get a good chance for a good start in life.

For many, there are better opportunities to stay in rural areas. Children receive a good education, the farmers get help with different things. All this is very much appreciated. They are very thankful to all the sponsors and want the sponsors to know that. They are extremely grateful. At the same time, they want to stand on their own eventually, earn their own money, pay for themselves. The Haitians are a proud people who constantly had to fight. They are prepared to fight even more if it knows it can get better.

I wish we (the Star of Hope, sponsors, and the world) could do a lot more for these vulnerable people so that they can get better opportunities. Star of Hope's model works on several different levels, but more resources are needed. If the Star of Hope will continue forward as now, we will see great results in 3 years, in 10 years and 20 years.