WORCESTER, Mass. – It’s been more than a week since a New Hampshire woman and her daughter were kidnapped in Haiti.
There’s currently a travel advisory to the country because of kidnapping, crime and civil unrest.
The Worcester-based nonprofit Be Like Brit runs a home and school there.
Nonprofit officials said this past year has been tough and while security is always one of their main focuses, they’ve increased their measures.
“We always had security because it was always something we wanted to make sure nothing does happen, but especially over this last six months to a year and really right now, we have increased our security,” said co-founder and Executive Director Cherylann Gengel. “We are much more diligent on what we have, with personnel, cameras and other things, that we have are definitely put in place. We’re like mamma bear and poppa bear. We don’t want anything to happen to not only our children, but to our entire staff and their families and the communities in which we live.”
Be Like Brit says over the last year they’ve struggled to get the supplies they need because of travel restrictions and costs.
While they’re getting some, it’s nothing compared to what they used to bring in.