Kathleen Davey was raised in Haiti by missionary parents and still has relatives living there; two of her cousins were kidnapped by gangs.
One of her cousins is a doctor who was kidnapped in January.
“She was doing good, as I’m sure Gena was as well, and basically she was taken. She was kept for five days and luckily we were able to negotiate and get her released,” Ms Davey told Good Morning Ulster.
“The gangs are basically taking advantage of disaffected youth because they have nothing, the government is non-existent, there’s a political vacuum, there’s a moral vacuum as well.
“That is what is fuelling the gangs, they have nothing else, they have no hope,” Ms Davey said.
She added that her family are in “constant fear but life goes on”.
She told the programme that she doesn’t recognise the country she grew up in.
“It’s very upsetting to hear the Haiti I knew is no longer.”