The kidnapping of American nurse Alix Dorsainvil and her daughter in Haiti has ended, according to a statement from Dorsainvil's employer.
As stated in the release, "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."
Because there is still so much to comprehend and recover from, the group requested that no one get in touch with Dorsainvil or her family, CNN reported.
Mother and Daughter Finally Freed
Dorsainvil and her daughter were taken hostage from the community ministry in Port-au-Prince, where she works. El Roi Haiti is the name of the organization.
The city's gangs regularly abduct members of the community for financial gain, demanding ransom in exchange for release.
Although locals make up the vast majority of victims, sometimes foreigners are taken hostage. While on the route north of the capital in 2021, a local gang kidnapped 17 missionaries from the United States and Canada, imprisoning them for almost a month.
According to United Nations research, between January and June of this year, authorities in Haiti recorded 1,014 kidnappings, including 256 women, 13 girls, and 24 boys.
The US Department of State expressed alarm about the security situation in Haiti on the day Dorsainvil and her daughter were kidnapped. On July 28, the agency issued an order for all but essential federal employees to leave the country.
Dorsainvil, a nurse originally from New Hampshire, relocated to Haiti when her husband was offered a job at a Haitian school, where she could provide nursing care to the students there, according to a video posted on the nonprofit's website. In the 2021 newsletter produced by Sandro Dorsainvil's high school in Montana, Lustre Christian High School, the pair tied the knot in Haiti in January of that year.
Rally for Safety
Earlier this week, thousands of Haitians went to the streets of Port-au-Prince to demand safety from the violent gangs that have been ravaging their towns.
Protesters spent two hours chanting, "We want security!" as they made their way from the violent Carrefour-Feuilles neighborhood to the peaceful Champ de Mars in the city center and finally to the official residence of the prime minister. According to reports, tear gas was used by police to disperse the crowd.
Since the assassination of President Jovenel Mose in 2021, gangs have taken control of as much as 80% of Port-au-Prince. They are promoting fear and violence in areas where poverty is already at crisis levels.
Protesters have vowed to keep the revolution going despite the murders of nearly 200 people since then as gangs take control of Haiti's understaffed and under-resourced police force.
