The American nurse and mother who was abducted Thursday near Port-au-Prince had first visited Haiti shortly after the 2010 earthquake and “fell in love with the people,” according to the charity where the woman works and where her husband is the director.
The Christian relief group El Roi Haiti has named the woman Alix Dorsainvil. On Thursday morning, “while serving in our community ministry,” the charity said she and her child were abducted from its campus in the Port-au-Prince area. Sandro Dorsainvil, the father of their kid and the founder and director of the organization in Haiti, is also her spouse.
Dorsainvil, a nurse from New Hampshire, has been living and working in Port-au-Prince at a school run by the NGO El Roi Haiti since 2020. The institution provides low-cost education and follows a religious curriculum.
“We are now entering day 5 since our dear friend Alix and her child were kidnapped,” the organization said Monday. “As our hearts break for this situation we also continue to pray for the country and people of Haiti and for freedom from the suffering they endure daily.”
The tweet below veriffies the news:
The American nurse kidnapped with her child near Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince Thursday first visited the country soon after the 2010 earthquake and “fell in love with the people,” according to the nonprofit organization where the woman works. https://t.co/33DNSqDAY3
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 1, 2023
Dorsainvil went to Haiti for the first time as a college student, not long after the deadly 2010 earthquake claimed the lives of thousands and left the country in ruins. El Roi claimed that during her time off and the summers, she frequently visited her own country. As soon as she began working as a nurse, she would use her own money to make frequent visits to Haiti. In the year 2021, the couple tied the knot.
“She had lived in Haiti for multiple years, showing love and care in a variety of ways before coming on staff with us, but has had a heart for the hurting since she was a child,” the organization said.
The kidnapping was reported at a period when violent crime and gang activity were on the rise in the city. U.S. federal officials have acknowledged knowledge of the kidnapping report and said they had been in touch with their counterparts in Haiti.
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A State Department spokeswoman told CBS News on Friday night, “We are aware of reports of the kidnapping of two U.S. citizens in Haiti.” We are in constant communication with the appropriate Haitian authorities and will keep working with them and our interagency counterparts in the United States administration. At this time, we have nothing else to add.
The U.S. Department of State strongly discourages its citizens against visiting Haiti. At the end of July, the CIA issued its most recent travel recommendation for the country, which maintained the same Level 4 risk assessment as before (meaning “do not travel”) and added the warning that kidnapping in Haiti “is widespread, and victims regularly include U.S. citizens.”
El Roi has asked again that no one speculate about Dorsainvil’s abduction on social media, and that anyone with questions regarding the case contact the board of directors rather than Dorsainvil’s loved ones.
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