Aspects of Care: Social

Community-based Ministry
COTN partners with villages and area leaders to care for the needs of children in their communities. Working together, our facilities are built and maintained, and programs are developed. In the Dominican Republic, parents encourage children to attend school regularly and help serve food in our feeding program.

Culture
Our children are raised by parents of their own culture, in their own country. Traditional ethnic music, dance, storytelling, and dress are encouraged as an important part of their heritage. In Sierra Leone, children in our home begin learning beats on the drum and how to dance to African music at a very young age.

Counseling
Our goal is to help restore emotional health to each of our children. Group and individual counseling provides opportunities for the child to process their trauma and loss, enabling them to integrate past hurts and move into their future as a whole, unique, and special individual. In Malawi, children are given the opportunity to work out their grief and trauma in group discussion and through play therapy.

Family
Having a sense of family is cherished by children who have lost everything. In our Malawi homes, having someone to call “Mommy” and to share joys and sorrows with is priceless. The security of having parents that care for and comfort each child cannot be underestimated. It has lasting social and psychological effects on children who otherwise would have been lost to society.

Village Visitations
Keeping children connected with living relatives gives them roots, an identity, and a sense of belonging, with the knowledge of “Where I’m from.” Each year in Malawi, Agnus is given the opportunity to visit the village she came from, as is the case for every child. This keeps relationships open and reinforces familiarity, which will be important if Agnus desires to move back to her village after graduating from our program.