Children of the Nations
Two decades ago Debbie Clark was back in her hometown of Edmonds as a teacher at Picnic Point Elementary School when she agreed to travel with her husband to explore Africa where he had been raised by his missionary parents.
“Our first trip in ’95 was a horrible shock,” Debbie recalled. “Chris and I saw children who had been orphaned, first by war, then by AIDS. Years later it was Ebola. The impact was devastating. We asked ourselves how could this tragedy be taking place with so many resources available to help.”
Committed to finding a solution, the Clarks returned to the United States and began searching for an organization that could send aid to the endangered children.
“We knew we had to do something,” said Debbie.
That something was the creation of an organization with an ambitious vision and a monthly budget of only $300; they christened it Children of the Nations (COTN). Twenty-one years later, Chris and Debbie’s faith-based determination has grown COTN to include a full-time staff of 400, tens of thousands of volunteers in eight countries and an annual budget of $7 million. Along the way, the organization has helped countless numbers of young people in East Africa and in the Caribbean.
Tangible results
The founders returned home from their latest trip to Africa in May where they visited schools in Sierra Leone built with cooperation from Children of the Nations. They witnessed villages where the impact of their work is evident in the lives of the children. In rural communities where few, if any, children were allowed to attend secondary school, many of those same children are now returning to their villages as doctors, dentists and teachers ready to help the next generation.
“Many of the children want to work with us, but we can only employ so many,” said Chris. “So we have begun programs to help young people start their own businesses in the community so they can give back in other ways.”
Children of the Nations provides assistance to children in three unique ways. First is the Village Partnership that delivers assistance and essential healthcare to children being raised by single parents, grandparents or extended family.
“This community-based ministry provides opportunities for partnerships, empowering local people with the resources and training to support their own children and better their communities,” said Chris. “Children of the Nations identifies the unique needs of the most desperate children in a community and develops a strategy for the best way to assist with those needs.”
The second method by which Chris and Debbie have fulfilled their vision is by providing safe housing for orphaned and destitute children with hopes the children will grow to become leaders who will someday transform their families, communities and ultimately their nations.
“The family-style Children’s Homes offer well-rounded care for the orphaned children we serve,” Debbie explained. Each home, she said, consists of a house mother (or in some cases a set of married house parents) who cares for 6 to 12 children with the assistance of “aunties.”
The third, and potentially most powerful program, sends deserving students to the university or for vocational training.
Debbie was quick to point out that, before Children of the Nations, many impoverished children in the Dominican Republic and Haiti had never thought about a future for themselves that was anything different than working in the sugarcane fields like their parents.
The organization’s most recent success story comes from the town of Algodón in the Dominican Republic. The small town that had never had a single child graduate high school recently had one of its own return as a medical doctor, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the Clarks and their mission to “Raise Children Who Transform Nations.”
“Thanks to generous partners and sponsors, dozens of young people in Africa and the Caribbean have entered COTN’s University/Vocational Program and received degrees,” said Chris. “This education has helped them secure good jobs, provide for their families and begin breaking the cycle of poverty in their communities.”
One young woman, Chris said, returned to her village with a degree in political science from the Catholic university and is now working on behalf of an organization that promotes peace and reconciliatory solutions.
Share the glee
The Clarks were in Sierra Leone this year to share the glee when 15 children (ages 7-8) who were moved from the organization’s interim care facility in the capital city of Freetown to the COTN group home in the country.
“The children,” said Chris, “moved from the congested, dirty, noisy inner-city to the rural setting of the home in the upcountry where they have rivers, swamps, jungles, three meals a day and hope.”
The new arrivals, said Debbie, were welcomed by 100 other youngsters who greeted them as brothers and sisters.
“Many of these kids were living on the streets,” said Chris. “Now they are ready to rock the world.”
The Clarks continue to rely on their faith to help them deal with government and bureaucratic hurdles the they have been forced to deal with for 21 years.
“By focusing on each child and their needs, COTN has built a ministry in each country where we serve. Children of the Nations (COTN) is a movement of people committed to a single vision, Raising Children Who Transform Nations.”
Dan Aznoff is a freelance writer based in Mukilteo who is focused on sharing the stories of individual lifetimes so they can be shared by future generations. He can be contacted directly at da@dajournalist.com.
