An Irish aid worker kidnapped from an orphanage in Haiti last year has said she continues to pray for her captors.
Gena Heraty walked free after the ordeal, which began when she was abducted along with six other people and a child from the orphanage in Kenscoff, about 10km southeast of the capital, Port au Prince, in the early hours of 4 August.
Ms Heraty said she keeps a piece of cloth that she used while in captivity in her shower as a reminder to pray for her captors.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, the Westport native said: "When we didn't have wash cloths or toilet paper or anything, and there was one piece of cloth that came with us. I keep it in my shower, and every time I see it, it reminds me to pray for them.
"And pray for them in the sense that I wish to God there was another option for the people in Haiti for these young lads that get dragged into this kind of a life, because there is no life."
"At the time when I got out, I thought that's over and done with, that's behind me"
While this was not a justification for their actions, she said, as "they have destroyed the country, destroyed friends and families of mine, and what they are doing is terrible" - it did not take away from the fact that Haiti was a country with "so many needs".
Although she was terrified, she said, looking at "those boys at the time and the girls too, and I was thinking they could be my nieces, my nephews."
Speaking about her kidnappers, she said the thing about life is "you can be petrified and still feel sad for people that are terrifying you".
She added that her abductors said they were "working for the devil".
"They're working for their gang lords, their gang leaders, we pray for them all the time," she said.
The abduction took place at around 3.30am in her home, Ms Heraty said.
"You know the irony, people are always afraid to go on the roads, I’ve been saying to people, maybe we should be afraid to stay in our houses."
"We were taken on the 4th of August, and we were released on the 29th of August".
She added that the incident did not occupy her thoughts that much.
"All the people that prayed and lit candles and were with us. I really want to thank everybody for that"
Ms Heraty said life in Haiti was "intense on a daily basis", and so people do not "dwell too much on the past".
"At the time when I got out, I thought that's over and done with, that's behind me. It's not going to be occupying my thoughts too much ... and that’s genuinely the way it has been."
Regarding the well-being of the others who were taken, she said they were all back at work, adding the "young fella" was doing great and is "coming on in leaps and bounds".
"And the other ladies the same, they’re all doing very well."
She added that they see each other regularly and can "chat through things" and "laugh at some things".
"We were very lucky," she said.
"Our feeling as a group is of gratitude - that we got out as well as we did. That we got out, and that we got out safe and sound without any physical trauma or anything like that."
'This is where I live, this is where my home is'
Asked if it was wise for her to remain in the country after this incident, as well as a previous attack in 2013, she said people were attacked everywhere.
"People are attacked everywhere. Is it wise for people to get in a car when you have car accidents every day of the week?"
Ms Heraty added that she was not the specific target of this kidnapping.
"So, for me it is not a question of if it is being wise, this is where I live, this is where my home is - this is where my commitment is.
"These children that had been abandoned as kids, these are children that I am committed to now."
"When bad things happen, you just have to double your efforts to do good things"
Ms Heraty said that everyone was fine since the ordeal and thanked people for their support.
"All the people that prayed and lit candles and were with us. I really want to thank everybody for that."
These days, work continues at the orphanage, she said, but in a different location.
"And that is our commitment that no matter how bad things go, these children with disabilities they deserve to be loved and taken care of and provided the best services."
She said they provide physical therapy services to adults and children with disabilities.
That stopped when they were in captivity as a message of solidarity and put pressure on the gangs to release them.
But today they are still offering those services.
"For the young people, the 58 residents that I live with that are here with us.
"For me, the thing is when bad things happen, you just have to double your efforts to do good things. That’s my philosophy in life, and we’re doing that."
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