American nurse Alix Dorsainvil (pictured with her husband Sandro Dorsainvil) and her child were released two weeks after being kidnapped in Haiti.Photo:HANDOUT/El Roi/AFP via Getty
HANDOUT/El Roi/AFP via Getty
American nurseAlix Dorsainviland her daughter have been released two weeks after they were kidnapped in Haiti.
Dorsainvil’s employer, the nonprofit organization El Roi Haiti, announced the news on Wednesday in a statement on itswebsite. “It is with a heart of gratitude and immense joy that we at El Roi Haiti confirm the safe release of our staff member and friend Alix Dorsainvil and her child, who were held hostage in Port au Prince, Haiti. Today we are praising God for answered prayer,” the statement said.
El Roi Haiti requested that no one contact the nurse or her family at this time. “There is still so much to process and heal from in this situation,” the organization wrote. “We will continue to release information as appropriate on our website.”
Dorsainvil, the wife of El Roi Haiti’s director Sandro Dorsainvil, and her child were abducted on July 27 “from our campus near Port au Prince while serving in our community ministry,” according to a July 28 blog post from El Roi Haiti.
“Kidnapping is widespread, and victims regularly include U.S. citizens,” the alert noted. “Kidnappers may use sophisticated planning or take advantage of unplanned opportunities, and even convoys have been attacked. Kidnapping cases often involve ransom negotiations and U.S. citizen victims have been physically harmed during kidnappings.”
Shortly after news of Dorsainvil and her child’s abduction broke, a State Department spokesperson told PEOPLE that it was aware of the kidnapping reports of two U.S. citizens in Haiti and had been “in regular contact with Haitian authorities and will continue to work with them and our U.S. government interagency partners.”
“The U.S. Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas,” the spokesperson continued.
According to aUnited Nations report, 1,014 kidnappings have occurred in Haiti from January to June this year: 256 women, 13 girls and 24 boys. In 2021, 17 missionaries, including 16 Americans and one Canadian,were kidnapped during a trip to an orphanagein Haiti and held for more than a month before being released.
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In a July 29 update about Dorsainvil’s kidnapping, El Roi Haiti described its colleague — a New Hampshire native who worked as the organization’s school and community health nurse — as “a deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family.”
Dorsainvil herself spoke about her love for the Haitian people in an undated video on El Roi Haiti’s website. “Haitians are such a resilient people,” she said. “They’re full of joy and life and love and I’m so blessed to be able to know so many amazing Haitians.”
source: people.com
