“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,” El Roi Haiti’s statement said. “We are so thankful for everyone who joined us in prayer and supported us during this crisis.”
Dorsainvil is the organization’s community nurse and is married to its director, Sandro Dorsainvil. Her kidnapping on July 27 was another in a larger surge of abductions and killings in Haiti, which has experienced ongoing unrest.
The U.S. State Department issued a “do not travel” advisory for Haiti on the day of her kidnapping, ordering all nonessential U.S. government employees to leave the country and warning of widespread kidnappings. The advisory remains in effect.
Haiti has struggled to address the rising power of gangs since the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, resulting in widespread violence. The country’s government has sought foreign help, and Kenya announced last month that it would lead a multinational police force of law enforcement personnel from other countries.
The State Department advisory warns of civil unrest, crime, supply shortages, poor health care and an ongoing cholera outbreak. It noted that kidnappers often demand ransom or physically harm their victims.
In another high-profile kidnapping, Haitian journalist Blondine Tanis was abducted days before Dorsainvil. She was reported to have been released on July 30, after her captors demanded ransom, but was not in good health after her release, some media outlets reported.
El Roi Haiti provided no information about Dorsainvil’s condition Wednesday.
Dorsainvil grew up in New Hampshire and graduated from Regis College in Massachusetts with a nursing degree in 2014. She moved to Haiti, where she began working as a school and community nurse for El Roi, a faith-based humanitarian organization, and married Sandro Dorsainvil. She considers the country her home, said Jason Brown, El Roi’s president and co-founder.
She and her child were allegedly abducted from the organization’s campus near Port-au-Prince while at work, according to El Roi Haiti.
“There is still much to process and to heal from in this situation, so we are asking that no attempts be made to contact Alix or her family at this time,” the organization said in the Wednesday statement.
