Children of the Nations

Children of the Nations® (COTN®) is a Christian nonprofit dedicated to raising children out of poverty and hopelessness so they can become leaders who transform their nations. Founded in 1995, the organization currently provides care to orphaned and destitute children in Sierra Leone, Malawi, Uganda, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. By partnering with local people, they establish Children's Homes (for orphans) and Village Partnership Programs (to benefit orphans and children living with destitute families or caregivers who cannot properly provide for them). The programs and services they provide include education, nutrition, medical care, and community development initiatives such as agriculture, clean water projects, skills training, and more. COTN believes true, lasting, and meaningful change to a nation begins with children, so they are their mission. COTN stands apart from other organizations in their goal not to provide relief, but rather to empower nationals to a life of self-sustainability. For more information, visit cotni.org.

Children of the Nations® (COTN®) emphasizes holistic care, addressing physical, spiritual, social, and mental growth in all our children. We seek to create an environment that meets the child's basic needs, encourages their individual desires and passions, and promotes excellence in achievement.

Physical Care
We care for our children's physical health by providing nourishing food, vitamin supplements, hygiene supplies, medical and dental care, clean water and public health initiatives, and sports programs that emphasize physical fitness.

Spiritual Care
Through sound Biblical training, evangelistic activities and outreaches (such as summer camps and youth retreats), scripture memory, devotionals, worship, and discipleship, our children are introduced to Jesus Christ and taught of His love for them. Our desire is to raise children who demonstrate a vibrant and authentic faith in Jesus Christ.

While each child in our care is encouraged to explore their spirituality, guidance and truth are applied to this exploration with the hope that they will choose to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. No child is ever coerced or forced into a relationship with Jesus. Just as biological parents lead their family spiritually, so we also lead our children.

Education
Well educated children are the ones who grow up to transform their nations. But in the impoverished communities we serve, a lack of educational access and resources has greatly limited children's opportunities in the classroom, in careers, and in life.

Our goal is to educate children in order to empower them to become the leaders of tomorrow. We can accomplish this goal by providing three essential components:
Accessibility, well-prepared teachers, and world-class learning standards.

Social Care
Social care addresses two main areas of a child's growth and development: finding their place in their family and culture, and their emotional health.

Our children are raised by caregivers of their own culture, in their own country. Traditional ethnic music, dance, storytelling, and dress are encouraged as an important part of their heritage. By partnering with village or community leaders, our children grow up with strong ties to their communities. We also provide opportunities for our children (especially our orphaned children) to maintain connections with relatives or extended families.

Many of the children we serve have experienced trauma, abuse, or grief. Orphans, a vulnerable, unprotected group, have not only experienced the immense grief of losing one or both of their parents, but are also at especially high risk of abuse because they have no one looking out for their best interests. Our counselors work with children and adults in an effort to provide healing and restore emotional health. Using individual and group counseling therapies, our staff has seen great strides toward emotional healing.

Children of the Nations® (COTN®) has well trained staff in the US, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Uganda, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. These staff work with other experts, as well as community leaders, parents, and partner organizations, to develop and implement programs that aim to achieve the goals of raising healthy, well-adjusted children who are empowered to be leaders in their families, communities, and nations.

Children of the Nations has been working in Sierra Leone since 1995, the Dominican Republic since 1997, Malawi since 1999, Uganda since 2006, and Haiti since 2010. With this experience, the cumulative expertise of staff and partners, and the financial support of tens of thousands of active donors, COTN is very capable of achieving its organizational goals.

Since it was founded in 1995, Children of the Nations® (COTN®) has seen thousands of children enter and progress through its programs. These children and young adults have received a good education, help with starting businesses, improved health and nutrition, and the confidence to be leaders in their families, communities, and nations.

There is still more to be done, though. Through the help of partners and supporters around the world, we envision providing a deeper level of care and service for the children we serve. We hope to continue building more schools, educating more children through the post-secondary level, producing more food in-country, empowering today's children to be tomorrow's leaders, providing better training for staff, implementing more sustainable development initiatives, and caring for many more children.