Nurse Alix Dorsainvil speaks for the first time after she and her child were kidnapped in Haiti and later released

The American nurse, who was abducted with her young daughter in Haiti last month, forgave her captors when she first spoke about the ordeal in a new video.

Alix Dorsainvil appeared alone in the video, sitting in a manicured garden with crickets chirping in the background, thanking the people who prayed for her and offering forgiveness to her captors.

“I want you to know that I hold no grudge against you in my heart,” Dorsainvil told her captors. “That doesn’t mean I agree with what you’re doing.”

The nearly five-minute video, in which Dorsainvil spoke entirely in Haitian Creole, was posted Monday to the website of El Roi, the Christian group founded by Dorsainvil’s husband that provides medical care, education and other basic services to Haiti’s poorest populations. . areas.

“For the gangsters, I have a message for you: I want you to know that everything I said during my imprisonment was sincere,” she said in a low voice.

“It wasn’t the manipulative words of someone desperate to escape, but just the truth, especially when I told you that the doors of my clinic are always open to you or anyone in need.”

Dorsainvil also recounted that during her abduction, a gang member told her, “Sister Alix, the people of Duvivier are marching for you,” referring to those who lived in the community where she worked.

“This was a huge encouragement to me, because I knew you were by my side during that difficult time,” she said.

“Thank you, because it took a lot of courage to do that.”

She also told the gang members who kidnapped her that she would look after them at her clinic “without any prejudice and welcome you with open arms.”

“Especially what you’re doing to your own Haitian brothers and sisters,” she said. “Even if a ransom is paid and the victims are released, this particular event will leave a scar in their hearts. That will never go away.’

Dorsainvil and her daughter were kidnapped on July 27 and released unharmed almost two weeks later.

El Roi has not provided further details, including whether a ransom has been paid.

The kidnappers had reportedly demanded a $1 million ransom for the New Hampshire mother and her daughter.

A graduate of Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, Dorsainvil lived in Haiti with her husband Sandro Dorsainvil, the founder and director of the Christian organization.

He grew up in Port-au-Prince and later went to school in the United States before returning to Haiti to found the non-profit in the hope that religious faith could play a role in solving the problems of the country.

In a blog post, the nonprofit says Alix Dorsainvil fell in love with the country’s people during a visit after the 2010 earthquake that hit the Caribbean country.

In this undated photo from El Roi Haiti, Dorsainvil poses with her husband, Sandro Dorsainvil

A child holds up a sign reading “We are waiting for Nurse Alix” during an August 3 protest to demand the release of American nurse Alix Dorsainvil and her daughter, who were abducted by gunmen in Port-au-Prince. Haiti, on July 27

Dorsainvil (right) lives in Haiti with her husband Sandro Dorsainvil, the founder and director of the Christian organization El Roi Haiti. They are parents of a young girl

In the new video, Dorsainvil said she needs time to heal, pray and seek God’s guidance for what will come next, adding that if it were only her decision, she would be back to work in the clinic.

Dorsainvil was one of more than 950 people kidnapped in Haiti between January 1 and August 15 as the country struggles with a spate of murders and kidnappings, the United Nations said.

Dr. Samson Marseille, the director of Haiti’s epidemiological department, was kidnapped on the same day as Dorsainvil.

Earlier this month, colleagues demanded his release.