NH Sen. candidate Ovide has ‘open heart for the world’s poorest people’

Aug 3rd, 2010 7:01 PM UTC
By Field

ONE is hitting the campaign trail to find out where candidates in New Hampshire, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Florida stand on extreme poverty. Stay tuned for more updates like these from our field team and organizers on the road.

Last night I went to New Boston, NH to catch up with Senate candidate Ovide Lamontagne. This is the second time ONE has talked with Ovide about our efforts to urge continued leadership in the fight against AIDS, malaria and hunger in Africa.

Ovide and I chatted briefly about how ONE draws its roots from the faith community, the Jubilee 2000 movement and how Pope John Paul II was instrumental in gaining support for third world debt relief, which enabled countries to better address extreme poverty and widespread disease.

We spoke about champions like Sen. Santorum and Sen. Brownback, who were compelled by their faith to help end human suffering, and acted in the Senate to lead Americans efforts that have now save over 5 million lives in the poorest places on earth.

Many longtime ONE members will recall ONE founder Bono’s passionate speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2006. It was later turned into the book titled “On the Move,” and for many years, helped people of all faiths take action with ONE through ONE Sabbath. Catholic Relief Services has consistently been on the front lines and on the ground in the poor countries, and many US Catholics have been taking action to defend human dignity, fight extreme poverty and even advocate for programs like the Millennium Challenge Corporation, whose board includes Ken Hackett, the head of Catholic Relief Services and former Majority Leader Bill Frist.

Ovide was very eager to hear about ONE and said that he would always have an open ear, open mind and open heart for the world’s poorest people, and accepted a ONE band from me.

Fighting AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa with ONE is not a matter of partisan politics, but a matter of saving human lives around the world. I look forward to talking more with Ovide and all of the Senate candidates here in New Hampshire!

Be sure to connect with other ONE Vote 2010 New Hampshire members on Facebook and Twitter.

- Matthew Flanders, ONE Vote 2010 organizer, New Hampshire

TAGS: From ONE Members, New Hampshire, ONE, ONE Vote 2010