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How an African Housewife Inspired a Florida Woman to Do More

To hear the full story, listen to COTN's Beyond the Village podcast, How a Malawian Housewife and a Girl with Special Needs Inspired a Florida Family to Do More.

“Once my husband and I got married and he got his first real job, he wanted to buy a nice car; but then reality set in,” says Carolyn Berger, a COTN partner who lives in central Florida. “He did drive a beater,” she recalls, laughing. “The back light would hang out.”

by by Heather Ostalkiewicz, COTN-USA Staff Writer and Podcast Producer

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Boston Marathon Runner Raises Money for 1,000 Pairs of Shoes for Children in Africa

“Okay, I’m checking the box,” Erin Curtis thought after she ran in Seattle’s Rock and Roll Marathon. “I ran a marathon; I’m done.”

It didn’t take long before Erin realized she didn’t want to stop. When she learned her marathon time qualified her to run in the Boston Marathon, it felt like an opportunity she couldn't pass up. But as Erin began thinking about this new race, it felt empty. She loved running, but something was missing—this run needed to be about more than just her.

by Heather Ostalkiewicz, COTN-USA Staff Writer and Podcast Producer

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Saved from Slavery: Ava and Ethan's Story

When nine-year-olds Ava and Ethan* came to our Children’s Homes in Malawi, they had just escaped a nightmare. They were in the hands of a human trafficker.

Ava and Ethan didn’t know each other, but they shared the same heartbreaking story. Abandoned by their mothers, they lived with grandmothers who struggled to care for them.

by COTN Staff

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How Can a Little Bar of Soap Be So Powerful?

“[I] am so afraid of cholera,” said 13-year-old Naphiri. “It comes when you eat without washing hands. The result of cholera may be death,” she added, terror overshadowing her usually cheerful face.

by Bethany F. Brengan, COTN-USA Staff Writer

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Ebola's Ripples Still Being Felt By Sierra Leone's Orphans

The fishing communities of Freetown, Sierra Leone, are tightly knit. Tiny homes of cement, mud, and tin are crammed together on the coast and families live almost on top of one another, lending support and friendship in this hard and often dangerous profession. 

by Mark Drennan, COTN-International Sierra Leone Liaison; and Cassia Burke, COTN-USA Volunteer Writer

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He Does What He Loves One Day a Year and it Saves Children’s Lives

J.T. Knowlton has come up with his own version of the perfect day, and a way to live it over and over again. To call his idea life-changing may sound dramatic, almost too good to be true. Until you see the effect it’s had. 

by Heather Ostalkiewicz, COTN-USA Podcast Producer and Staff Writer

Beyond the Village Podcast

The official podcast of Children of the Nations

Go behind the scenes and hear stories straight from the children and staff. And, with special guests, explore what it means to raise children who transform nations.

Click the links below to listen to the official Beyond the Village podcast. Or, find us on iTunes and SoundCloud.

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I Must Tell My Story: Ireen Banda of Malawi

Sitting in the American camp office and laughing about campers and cultural differences, you couldn’t feel farther away from the harsh world Ireen paints with her stories. But they are her life—though it’s hard to believe this soft-spoken, confident, beautiful young Malawian woman was once fighting on the street for food to bring back to her abusive father and dying mother. 

by Cassia Burke, COTN-USA Staff Writer

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Building a School in the African Jungle

School is out for the day, but the children are all still working. They roll a little piece of cloth over the crown of their head and one by one, they help each other stack heavy red bricks on top. One, two, three, even four bricks high they stack them—as far as their hands can reach to steady them. The biggest boys take five.

by Cassia Burke, COTN–USA Staff Writer

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