In Haiti, gangs control many parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Gang members are relying on extortion and kidnapping to finance themselves - and assert their power over the country’s future.
The rampant violence is deepening Haiti’s severe and chronic political instability, sparking a humanitarian crisis on top of existing crises.
And yet, despite these conditions, the work of the Children’s Nutrition Program of Haiti goes on.
For more than twenty-five years, the nonprofit - based here in Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley - has helped women and families to break the cycle of malnutrition in southern Haiti, a remote and mountainous area.
On Saturday, it will hold the Hope for Haiti Walk-a-Thon, starting at 9 AM in Coolidge Park in downtown Chattanooga.
Dr. Anany Prosper is Country Director of CNP Haiti - and Patricia Cyr Watlington is the program’s executive director.
![Banner for Hope For Haiti Walk-A-Thon.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ed9d43a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2048x2048+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7d%2F52%2Fccd197c148809c0392f882778430%2Fhope-for-haiti-walk-a-thon.jpg)