News

The Soigner Fistula Project Sierra Leone
Oct 1, 2007 -

Soigner (pronounced “swan-yay”) is a French word meaning “to heal.” The goal of the Soigner Fistula Project, a pilot-program under the direction of Children of the Nations, is to bring healing and transformation to young women suffering from a debilitating condition known as obstetric fistula in Sierra Leone, Africa. As a doula (a certified childbirth assistant) for the past twelve years, I help women and their partners prepare for birth with their heart, mind, and spirit. I believe that birth is one of the most powerful miracles that God has graced us with.

Malnutrition Claims the Life of Another Baby in Sierra Leone Sierra Leone
Oct 1, 2007 -

In Dec. 2006 – Jan. 2007, I was able to be part of a short-term mission team to Sierra Leone, West Africa. While there we spent time at our ministry site in the rural chiefdom of Banta Mokelleh (an eight-hour drive up-country from the capital city of Freetown). Banta Mokelleh is the poorest chiefdom in all of Sierra Leone (which is the poorest country in the world). In Banta, we truly minister to the poorest of the poor.

A New Farm in Malawi—A Future of Feeding Malawi
Oct 1, 2007 -

Last week, Tom Mambo (Malawi Country Director) and the board of trustees visited Nchi Chere Farm (pronounced chee-CHAIR-ee), a 350-acre farm COTN has the opportunity to purchase. The Malawi Board of Directors recently approved the purchase and COTN President Chris Clark will visit Malawi later this month to give final approval. Pray that the property is all we anticipate it to be and that it will be approved.

It's Not About Me Uganda
Oct 1, 2007 -

[Nancy Kilpatrick is a nurse from York, Maine, who first visited Africa in 2005 as part of a COTN Venture Team to Malawi. She returned to Malawi in 2006, leading her own medical team. Sensing God’s call to go to Uganda, Nancy became a member of a COTN trauma counseling team that ministered to children and adults living in displacement camps in Lira, Uganda in June 2007. The following is a post-trip reflection on our ministry in Uganda and her role in it.]

My New Friend, Miguel Dominican Republic
Oct 1, 2007 -

I would like to tell you about one of my friends from the Dominican Republic. His name is Miguel. He’s a small, 13-year-old from Don Bosco, one of the bateys where COTN operates a school. I met him last summer when I had come to play basketball at the school. Any time the children were playing basketball, he was sure to be found close by. This summer I got the chance to hang out a little more with Miguel, and I found out more of his life story. Miguel hangs out with a group of boys at Don Bosco who write and sing Christian Rap songs.

Knowing Less Every Day Dominican Republic
Oct 1, 2007 -

Regresé a mi casa más viejo
después de recorrer el mundo.
No le pregunto a nadie nada.
Pero sé cada día menos.

I returned home much older
after crossing the world.
Now I question nobody.
But I know less every day.
-Pablo Neruda

Interns' Summer in Banta Mokelleh Sierra Leone
Oct 1, 2007 -

Our last few weeks in Banta Mokelleh in Sierra Leone have been bittersweet. Sweet because every day we feel more and more a part of this community and the color distinctions seem to fade away as we share laughs and inside jokes with our friends. Bitter because even as I write this, it’s still hard to believe that it’s our last day here. This is the day we have all been dreading. Some of us are running around doing some last-minute cleaning and packing.

The Process of Learning Malawi
Oct 1, 2007 -

When the interns come to Malawi, one of the first things I tell them is this: “It is not what you come to Malawi to do that is important, but what you learn.” I believe that in this life, God asks us not to be doers, but to be learners. Of course there are many great works to do, many things that God does indeed ask us to do, but the process in getting those tasks done is of far greater importance than the actual task. The journeys—the lessons learned—have eternal value, while the tasks themselves, in time, will fade away.

Lira, Uganda—News from the Field Uganda
Oct 1, 2007 -

Greetings from Lira, Uganda! It is so good to be back here—to feel the embrace of the Ugandan staff and to see some of the children and adults in the camps that we left behind. There were tears of joy and hugs as we were warmly welcomed to our home here. Ed met his namesake, Little Ed or “Hed” as they call him here! It is such a joy to see the work of God in the lives of the people that we met last year.

Rescuing an Orphan in Sierra Leone Sierra Leone
Oct 1, 2007 -

Since leaving my home in the UK and joining my husband Ian in Sierra Leone, I have been working at the Shepherd’s Hospice in the capital city of Freetown. The hospice is situated on the east side of the city, a poverty-stricken area which was badly affected by the terrible civil war of the late 1990s. The hospice was established to try and provide palliative care services for people dying from life-threatening illnesses, such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and cancer.