New Hampshire nurse, child abducted from Haitian Christian ministry
An American nurse and her young child were kidnapped in Haiti Thursday, the faith-based organization her husband runs said.
Alix Dorsainvil and the child, who was not named, were abducted from a Christian campus near Port au Prince, the country’s capital, while conducting community ministry services, according to El Roi Haiti.
The conditions surrounding the pair’s kidnapping were not shared, but the US State Department said it was working toward their safe return.
“We are aware of reports of the kidnapping of two U.S. citizens in Haiti,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We are in regular contact with Haitian authorities and will continue to work with them and our U.S. government interagency partners.”
According to El Roi Haiti’s website, Dorsainvil worked as a nurse in New Hampshire before making the permanent move to Haiti to serve as the organization’s community nurse.
She is married to El Roi Haiti’s founder and director, Sandro Dorsainvil, whom she shares a child with.
“Alix is a deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family,” the organization said in a statement.
The reported kidnappings came on the same day the US ordered non-emergency government personnel and family members to leave Haiti as soon as possible, citing “kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and poor health care infrastructure.”
The state department warned that abductions have increasingly become widespread throughout the Caribbean country, with victims regularly including Americans.
“Kidnappers may use sophisticated planning or take advantage of unplanned opportunities, and even convoys have been attacked,” a travel advisory stated.
Haiti has struggled to contain violence and chaos as heavily armed gangs drive a humanitarian crisis that has displaced tens of thousands amid frequent kidnappings for ransom, gang rapes, tortures and murders.
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