KY woman with ties to Haiti reacts to kidnapping

(LEX 18) — Exactly two months after she spoke to LEX 18 about the growing instability in Haiti, Kelly Rowe said she is still dejected by the current events in the country.

“I was heartbroken again,” Rowe said Monday, speaking via Zoom about the kidnapping of a group of American missionaries in Haiti over the weekend.

NBC News reported that a notorious gang kidnapped 16 U.S. nationals and one Canadian Saturday. The group was visiting an orphanage as part of their work for Christian Aid Ministries, an Ohio-based nonprofit organization.

“Join us in praying for those who are being held hostage, the kidnappers, and the families, friends, and churches of those affected,” Christian Aid Ministries said in a statement.

Rowe, who is the principal of the Good Shepherd Catholic School in Frankfort, has made three missionary trips to Haiti.

She recalled when guides would point out areas dominated by gangs. During her trips to the country, though, she did not feel threatened.

“It was nothing as it is today, unfortunately,” Rowe said.

This most recent development out of Haiti came amid a period of political and social upheaval. Haiti’s president was assassinated in July and a deadly earthquake killed more than 2,000 people one month later.

Reports have emerged from the country of Haitians going on strike to protest the latest wave of kidnappings and economic and political instability.

“[The Haitian people] are tired of it too,” Rowe said. “This is not representative of the Haitian people as a whole.”