By: Jason Bellini , Ingrid Arnesen, Linda Pattillo, Scripts News | Didi Ananda describes her mission to protect children from gang violence, emphasizing that music provides healing and hope during their turbulent journey. | Video story: 16:29 | As Haiti descends deeper into lawlessness, a group of orphans has found safety in the mountains of the country’s north after fleeing relentless gang violence in Port-au-Prince that has displaced over a million Haitians.
Didi Ananda, a 61-year-old nun originally from Spain, led the evacuation of 33 children in her care as armed groups closed in on their neighborhood.
“At one moment, I said, ‘Let’s move,’” she told Scripps News. “And I don’t regret it.”
Her children’s home, rooted in a yoga-based spiritual tradition, places music at its core — every child learns to play an instrument.
“For them, music has been a healing thing,” Ananda said. “A way to restore rhythm and joy when the world falls apart.”
So when it came time to flee, Ananda knew what mattered most.
“The main priority was to bring the children to safety,” she said. “And the material things—the priority was the instruments.”
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Go here to read the rest of this heart-wrenching story:
https://www.scrippsnews.com/shows/scripps-news-reports/haiti/orphans-flee-gang-violence-in-haiti-as-un-warns-of-total-chaos
Photo: Orphans’ orchestra
https://amurtel.org | https://amurtel.org/international-music-camp-in-haiti/