American nurse freed weeks after being kidnapped in Haiti

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Christian nonprofit organization El Roi Haiti on Wednesday said Alix Dorsainvil and her daughter were released after being held hostage for nearly two weeks. “Today we are praising God for answered prayer,” the organization wrote on its website. The kidnappers took Dorsainvil and her daughter on July 27 from the ministry’s campus near Port-au-Prince, where she works as a nurse for the school and community. The organization did not say if any ransom was paid for their release.

Are kidnappings common in Haiti? At least 1,000 people were kidnapped in Haiti between January and June this year, according to a report from the United Nations. Thousands of Haitians protested in Port-au-Prince over the weekend, demanding the government work harder to curtail gang violence. Haiti’s gangs frequently carry out kidnappings and demand ransom payments.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard’s interview with a Christian doctor who works in Haiti on The World and Everything in It podcast.

Lauren Canterberry

Lauren Canterberry is a reporter for WORLD. She graduated from the World Journalism Institute and the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, both in 2017. She worked as a local reporter in Texas and now lives in Georgia with her husband.