If you pay much attention to the news, you might be feeling bummed out about the state of the world. But what if we told you that there’s more to the story? That the world is actually getting better?
Here are nine little pieces of news that will cheer you up and remind you that the world is becoming a better place (especially when you support COTN)!
1. A team of doctors and medical professionals visited our clinic in the Dominican Republic in the spring. They performed over 50 surgeries for children and adults who otherwise don’t have access to healthcare! The team even built a community garden for the village of Pueblo Nuevo to tend and harvest food.
2. Yelin and Albelin are two of the first college graduates from their Dominican communities. Albelin is actually the first male graduate from his village! Both young men want to use their degrees to become teachers so that they can inspire more children to fall in love with learning.
3. In Haiti, we welcomed 50 new children to our program! Nine of these children were not attending school at all. But thanks to the support of caring people like you, all nine children were enrolled in special classes to help them catch up to the other students their age. In the fall, they will start attending regular school with their peers!
4. Our Food Security Program in Malawi is thriving. Dozens of families have bags of maize (corn) stored up for the famine season, so parents don’t have to worry about how they’re going to feed their children!
5. Also in Malawi, four young adults from our program just finished culinary school! Dave, Luster, Patience, and Isaac all attended vocational school thanks to the support of sponsors like you. They prepared a delicious meal for a special graduation ceremony that honored them and many other graduates. Isaac and Dave even have jobs at local hotels and can support themselves and their families.
6. Our children in Sierra Leone now have a safe place to play soccer and basketball! This sports court will be a place for children to exercise and have fun without worrying about tripping on uneven or muddy ground. (A special thanks to the Aust Group for making this court possible!)
7. Enable the Children, an organization that provides physiotherapy and occupational therapy, visited our special needs children in Sierra Leone. They led a workshop on caring for children with special needs and taught our staff simple exercises to help keep the children healthy.
8. Do you remember Janet’s story from Uganda? Janet has passed her exams and is now a teacher at COTN’s own primary school in Uganda! She has come such a long way and wants to encourage her students, just like teachers once encouraged her.
9. And Nurse Olivia, COTN–Uganda’s head nurse, is using hand-washing stations called “tippy-taps” to teach the children about having good hygiene. These tippy-taps ensure that the children can wash their hands with running water, which reduces the spread of diseases!
There you have it—nine pieces of good news that demonstrate that the world is becoming a better place. If you want more great news like this every month, sign up for our email list! Not only will we keep you looped in on all the fantastic things happening in the countries we serve around the world, we’ll share ways that you can get involved so you can be a part of making the world a better place.
P.S. Feeling inspired by stories like Janet’s and Yelin’s? You can sponsor children just like them and help them grow up into incredible young adults who will transform their nations!