Imagine finding a 5-month-old baby in a metal basket in a tent that is 102 degrees, seeing her mom in the corner dying of end stage tuberculosis and learning the father just passed away with AIDS. Unfortunately, this is a daily reality in Haiti that I witnessed recently.
Haiti is a short flight from Tennessee, but it is the most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere. This tiny, rugged country is so overpopulated and environmentally unsound that it is struggling to feed, house and even meet the most basic of its citizens' health needs.
In 1998, I made my first trip to the island nation on a mission trip to help build a school with members of my Chattanooga church. The trip was led by local businessman Jim Hudson, who has devoted his life to such projects.
The mountains are rough in Haiti -- steep and jagged -- and because of deforestation it can be a very stark place. To make our way to the construction site, we had to hike a mountain to a small village in the Petit Harpon area of the country. Once we got there, our days were filled with hard work and our nights spent sleeping on the floor of a local church.
I made a second trip in 1999, and what I witnessed there was a hardy and friendly people, not opposed to work but not afforded the same opportunities that most of us take for granted in America.
Recently, I ventured back to Haiti to observe the operations of a Chattanooga-based organization called the Children's Nutrition Program of Haiti. CNP, or Kore Timoun as it is known in Creole, is a faith-based organization founded by Dr. Mitch Mutter. In 1988, he started going to Haiti on medical missions. Later, after the death of a child Mitch had been treating and learning it was from malnourishment, he returned to the U.S., vowing never to go back "to that godforsaken country." However, in his heart, he knew he must return and work on a solution to the malnourishment problem that plagues much of Haiti. Dr. Chuck Sternberg of Chattanooga shared that vision.
On my trip, we made the hike back to the school I helped build. I am proud to report it is flourishing. While there, I saw the work CNP is doing throughout the region around Leogane, the epicenter of the 2010 earthquake. What has attracted me to CNP is that it's not about handouts. It's about empowering communities to take control of their health issues, teaching them how to feed themselves properly and economically, and how to take care of their children and families.
CNP's reach is remarkable. During my visit, other organizations were coming to the Kore Timoun headquarters to see how they could work together, knowing that CNP is actively engaging families in these remote communities day in and day out.
CNP maintains the belief that to create sustained success for the children of Haiti, families must "learn to fish" as opposed to just being provided welfare -- similar principles that have guided me politically.
While serving as chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, I was honored to help lead the team that had a real impact on changing the political climate here. It was a privilege to work in the political arena for more than 20 years. I'm not leaving the Republican Party. My conservative viewpoint is strongly intact. I believe, though, as a Christian and as an American, if we are fortunate enough, we have a responsibility to help those who can't help themselves -- regardless of borders.
The hike in Petit Harpon, Haiti, did help change my life. Because of that experience, I start working Monday at CNP to help change the lives of others.
Chris Devaney is the former chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party who now serves as executive director of the Children's Nutrition Program of Haiti. He lives in Chattanooga.