Sierra Leone

Recovering from ten years of civil war, the children of Sierra Leone were the hardest hit by this internal conflict. Hundreds of thousands of people were slaughtered, leaving an estimated 10,000 children orphaned and unaccompanied in the late 1990s. Today, the infant mortality rate (the percentage of children that die before they reach five years of age) of Sierra Leone is the highest in the world (2006 UNICEF report). This statistic reflects the shortage of important infrastructure like hospitals, educational institutions, agricultural development, and economic development that is needed for the stability and improvement of conditions for children.

COTN began serving the needs of this country in 1996 and now provides homes for orphaned children, schools, churches, medical clinics, feeding programs, and is developing farming techniques including animal husbandry and agricultural income-generating projects that will aid in the fight against malnutrition and poverty. Our Christ-centered, holistic approach led by our national staff is impacting thousands of lives each year. Each year, international interns, associates, and short-term teams travel to Sierra Leone to assist in the mission of providing quality and individualized care for our children and help propel our efforts forward.

This year we will complete construction on our new Village of Hope in Banta Mokelleh and will relocate the children from our Freetown Children’s Home. We will implement use of the newly constructed William E. Clark Skills Center and are also moving forward with income-generating agricultural initiatives. In 2007, we plan to expand our village ministry to include additional chiefdoms and plant additional churches.