What Gena does every day.....May 14,2025

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Dear friends,

Our challenges continue to be major.

Many of you of you know Gena Heraty, from Ireland, who has been with NPH Haiti for almost as long as I have, creating family living for disabled children and adults. Gena lives in Kenscoff, at the NPH Home called Ste. Helene. gena gives us a glimpse of the terrible suffering at the hand of barbaric gangs in the mountains of Kenscoff. Gena wrote both reflections below:

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His name was Emmanuel

The name Emmanuel, both in its Hebrew form (Immanuel) and its English variant, means "God with us"

He worked as a security guard at our home, and he was very active in the local Catholic Church.

He lived up to his name- a kind word for everyone. 

A smile lived on his face, and he clothed himself with kindness every day.

Goodness was his essence.

When we started taking our young people to his church, he was extremely proud and told me several times the impact our Special Needs Residents were having on his community. He always greeted us at the door of the church with his beautiful happy smiling face.

That beautiful church - built only a few years ago with the help of the poor farmers and other donations-is now inhabited by the gangs that took his life.

By the gangs that beat him, shot him, and burned him in the house that he was guarding that Thursday night when the gang members went crazy in the rural community of Furcy.

That church is now a party house for the same gangs that kidnapped his only daughter- one of many they kidnapped. 

That church is now one of the bases for the gangs that have destroyed Emmanuel’s community.

That church -once called St. Michel and now called St. Paul- is where gangs play their party music and celebrate the terror they have spread all over the hills.

Where they rejoice in killing poor farmers and show no mercy on those running screaming into the dark while the bullets fall like rain all around them. 

Emmanuel-it was easy to see the goodness of God in you.

It was easy to see how a world is made better when people are kind and inclusive- when people care for each other and see each other as one.

Emmanuel you did not deserve this- no one does.

You were a strong young man with so much to live for.

You died standing up against evil.

You died a martyr’s death. 

You are not just another statistic, one number amongst the min 1617 people killed in Haiti so far this year(Relief Web),

One more death to add to the 5,600plus killed in 2024(UN figures).

Emmanuel- God with us.

You were God with us. 

Life is not fair- we learned this long ago and don’t expect it to be.

But we work hard to make it a little fairer.

Your presence touched many lives Emmanuel.

We give thanks for your life and your love and we believe you will soar with the angels and watch over your beautiful homeland.

You can enlist St. Paul and St. Michael cos as you know, your people pray nonstop to God and his Angels for protection.

Emmanuel your life was ended far too soon.

Your work on earth is done. 

There is a song called “Your work on earth is done” and these two lines come from it.

“The Lord of love will be my comfort when my work on earth is done.

He’ll safely lead me through the valley,

When my work on earth is done”.

Bon voyaj Emmanuel.

Nou pap janm bliye w.

Gena Heraty

May 14th 2025

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Dark Days


Death, violence and terror - the daily reality in Kenscoff. So many of our employees no longer sleep in their homes at night. Once it begins to get dark they go down deeper into the valley, in an attempt to avoid the raiding gangs. Last Friday- an employee rang me sometime before 4am- Gena, stay alert, there is a lot of shooting over the hill. We talked about another employee that lives in the area where the gangs were shooting. I hung up and called that employee- ‘ we are hiding in the fields- we ran because there was shooting everywhere. She told me later, that 12 of them crammed into a garden shack and when they couldn’t all sleep there, some slept outside. Imagine how traumatized her children are! Imagine how she feels!  

One of our night employees was frantically trying to reach her family. They live right beside the police station- and the police station was under attack. Her neighbor was killed and other family members were injured.

 

Another employee told me she and her kids literally slide and rolled down the hills as they ran for their lives. “We were not on any path Gena- we just ran. They shot people in front of me, they pulled and dragged my neighbour  - it was awful. They kidnapped people- made them carry the dead bodies of gang members that had been shot. Oh it was awful Gena”

 

Automatic gunfire keeps everyone awake at night and fear grows and swells throughout the valleys. The night seems endless when you are afraid. Schools are closed and countless families have left their homes. Tis more of the same in Haiti as the reign of terror continues and spreads from community to community.

These are dark days. 

There is a new Pope- he speaks of unity and love. 

Unity- what a nice word! Why oh why do humans always try to focus on how we might be different? Why can’t we look at how similar we all are? 

Why can’t we imagine what it must be like for those that are suffering! 

How many people do you know that were murdered this year? Hopefully none- in Haiti we are not so lucky as we know so many. 

Know as in know personally!

Do you know anyone that was kidnapped and tortured? Hopefully not! 

Sadly we know many.

I don’t have answers. 

Haiti doesn’t make the news.

I feel I had to write a few words.

Too much violence.

Too many senseless deaths.

Too many rapes.

Too much sadness.

I like the Pope’s plea for unity.

I like his call for peace and inclusion.

Let’s make it happen.

To have peace You and I must be peaceful.

To have a fair world You and I must be fair.

To have a safe world you and I must be safefty- be safety in our language, how many times do we read things written in language of violence? 

Be safety in our interactions!  

I could go on and on!

Please keep praying for peace.

Be Peaceful!

Please include Haiti in your prayers.


Gena Heraty, NPH Special Needs Programs, Haiti.

Tel: 50937245951

What I do everyday....May 3, 2026

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Dear friends,

After nine days and working through three different major gang leaders, we liberated our kidnapped friend 4 days ago, on Tuesday.

Yesterday was a game changer. If I did the same job today, four days later, I would be accused of providing material support to a global terrorist network.

See this statement from me, and the one far below from the US Government.

From me:

“ Just to make it clear to our friends and supporters since the new phase affects us greatly,

Since early 1990s to the present, both Nos Petits Frères et Soeurs and Fondation St Luc have done and continue to do significant work, and make significant investments, in the most marginalized areas of Port au Prince and beyond.

This makes us well known in many communities, including especially troubled communities.

Gangs have always existed in those areas but have taken over in the largest measure over the past five years.

Our steady work in normal times, in times of earthquake and hurricane emergencies, in times of violence have earned us enough respect from the people -including the malevolent - that we found ourselves in a position of both access and credibility.

This placed on us an obligation well described by Red Cross international, stating that those who have the ability to speak with non governmental armed groups on behalf of vulnerable persons or communities have the obligation to do so.

We have done this for Churches, international organizations of high standing, a number of governments for their citizens, and for many individual families- as recently as 3 days ago.

Both ourselves and others like us can no longer intervene for individuals in peril or in precarious situations that might become more dangerous, because our human corridors are carved out via humanitarian interventions like:

Truckloads or water for an area of drought, seeds for farmers to replant after a disaster to their crops, an energy surgery for a preeclampic woman, a prosthetic limb for a gunshot victim, etc

Under the current declarations any of these could be deemed as support for criminal organizations.

Our access and our credibility are no longer useful.

But our institutions are still useful , until broken supply chains empty our pharmacy shelves or rupture stocks of medical supplies.

This whole country has yearned for the end of gang rule and this nightmare of a life, causing nothing but terror, misery and hardship for over five years.

We can only hope this current strategy will hasten a return to normal times free of gang rule.

From the US Government for anyone with any dealings with the gangs of Haiti:

Implications for Haiti’s Private Sector and Financial Sector

Designation Overview

On May 2, 2025, the Trump administration officially classified two major Haitian gangs-Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif-as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) and Specifically Designated Global Terrorists. This designation empowers the United States to impose extensive economic sanctions on these groups and anyone conducting business with them, including Haitian and international entities.

Impact on Haiti’s Private Sector.

• Trade Disruption: The gangs control crucial economic infrastructure, such as major ports and roadways in Port-au-Prince. Much of the movement of goods in and out of Haiti currently relies on payments to these gangs. Sanctions could halt or severely disrupt all trade, as businesses may be penalized for any perceived association or payment to these groups.

• Supply Chain Breakdown: Private sector actors, including importers, exporters, and local businesses, could face sudden shortages of goods, increased costs, and operational paralysis, especially if they are unable to access ports or roads previously controlled by the gangs.

• Legal and Financial Risks: Any private sector entity found providing “material support” to the gangs-even unwittingly-could face U.S. sanctions, criminal charges, and exclusion from the U.S. financial system. This includes not only Haitian businesses but also international firms operating in Haiti.

• Humanitarian Access: Humanitarian organizations, which often partner with private sector logistics providers, may also be forced to cease operations, further straining the availability of essential goods and services.

Impact on Haiti’s Financial Sector.

• Banking Sanctions: U.S. sanctions can extend to Haitian banks and financial institutions that facilitate transactions for or with the designated gangs. This could lead to the freezing of assets, loss of correspondent banking relationships, and exclusion from the global financial system.

• Remittances and International Transactions: Remittances, a critical source of income for many Haitian households, could be disrupted if financial institutions face heightened scrutiny or are unwilling to process transactions for fear of sanctions.

• Investor Confidence: The designation and associated sanctions are likely to further erode investor confidence, deterring foreign direct investment and complicating access to international capital markets.

Expert Assessment:

Experts warn that these measures, while intended to weaken the gangs, could exacerbate Haiti’s humanitarian crisis and economic collapse by halting trade, aid, and financial flows-effectively isolating the country from the global economy.

What I do Every Day......April 15, 2025

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Since I last wrote, we had a direct attack in our area, immediately behind St Luke Hospital.

The heavy shooting started and 1:30am, and some of the workers came to wake me up, but the shooting had already woken me up.

I went with a few others to St Luke Hospital, where some people fleeing from their homes were coming in the gate to be safe within our walls. Most people find a place to hide and lie low in the area of their homes because it is dangerous to be on the street.

Because of what just happened in Mirebalais, even to nuns, we were all quite on edge. But after about thirty grueling minutes the gunfire stopped and bandits did not assault our hospital.

In the dark, without knowing where the bandits are, once it is quiet no one moves. The wounded lay low, and those who would seek the wounded lay low, because the roads become a death trap. But with the rising sun comes enough courage to see, evaluate, and act. So it was that at the crack of dawn the bullet wounded were brought to us. I also also went to seek them. There were no dead.

A very young woman name Chrismene (“Christ leads”) had her right foot dangling from her ankle by a piece of skin. We took her and the other wounded to Doctors Without Borders (quite nearby), but it was evident she would lose her foot.

Her picture is far below, taken when discharged after her amputation, and came to St Luke Hospital for follow up. Her face is sad but resolute. She is one more innocent and tragic victim of this violence, her whole life ahead of her with inner and outer scars. She is also one more incredibly strong and heroic Haitian woman. We will stay close to her, and see soon about what is poissible for a prosthetic foot.

The incident caused a crisis in our hospital. Both the heavy shooting and then caring for the dramatically injured is an emotional damage to our staff, not trained in trauma situations, war-like injuries, or victims of urban terrorism.

Because most of the people who still work with us could not find a way to leave Haiti for Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Canada or the USA, they have to be very careful IN HAITI to avoid places like Tabarre, where we are.

We spend a few days thinking our hospital would be forced to close by understandable abandonment of staff. But as the days passed, and as we understood better what had happened near us and the motivation, everyone renewed their commitment to keep St Luke Hospital open, because there are so few hospitals left.

We have been busy organizing some helicopter flights to move nuns who are trapped over the heads of gangs and to safer areas. We have been able to do this for about 10 Sisters so far.

The brother in law of one our lead St Luke physicians was kidnapped within the past week, and kidnappers sent Whatsapp messages to the family of his torture.

Once again thanks to our staff who have known for years how to lead us to face to face discussions with bandits who can and do help us (always in a humanitarian exchange of one kind of another), Dr Pyram’s brother in law was freed after three days for very little money (paid by the family), and is under good care for his injuries. It is all very savage. As the saying goes, the body keeps the score. But so does the heart and the soul.

Mireblais is still a dangerous place, and I have seen the images of the destruction of the police station there. We were never able to recover the bodies of the Sisters, whose bodies are precious to all of us in the Church, and to their families and friends.

The mountains of Kenscoff are also still under siege, but like in Tabarre, our NPH (NPFS) programs at St Helene in Kenscoff have been under no direct threat.

We are preparing these days for Easter, especially preparing to distribute as much food and assistance as we can in about 20 areas of difficulty.

Like everyone else in the country, we are in freefall and can only help in the most limited way, but in God’s eye, no help is too small.

I don’t show Chrismene for pity, but as a human reference point. Real people are suffering. We have to also be real people, authentic in humanity and Christianity, toward our neighbors.

What I do every day....April 5, 2025

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Bandits invaded Mirbalais in large numbers on March 31.

Among the many dead were two Roman Catholic Sisters of the Little Sisters of St Therese.

Since the area was occupied by heavy shooting, no one knew of the deaths until the next day. On Thursday we were asked to try to retrieve the bodies, and we set our usual “humanitarian corridor” dialogue in motion with different levels of bandits, but the bandits themselves warned us not to try because no cease fire was possible for two reasons:

there were three levels of combatants: bandits, local brigades and police with no ability to get a cease fire agreement during the battle

and secondly the battle is guerilla style. The sides are not squared off over a battle field but all spead around behind walls, in vacated houses, in small corridors.

With an extensive team that included ourselves and various Sisters, we tried even again today to see if we could retrieve the bodies, but it is not possible.

Of the thousands killed since this year of 2025 began, these two Sisters (Jeanne and Evanette) share the fate of countless peasants and people of other classes, even to the heartache of not retrieving the bodies. We ourselves cannot even reach Mirebalais.

It may still be possible when the flagrant conflict calms down, but you can imagine by then you can not even call them bodies any more, but remains.

“The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no further torment shall touch them.” (Wisdom 3:1)

The pictures of the Sisters are below, to help focus your prayer. One friend of the Sisters wrote,

“We cannot say ‘go in peace’, as your going was so violent. But we do say ‘fly high’ to the very presence of God, and pray for us from that Holy Place.”

The morning mass readings for Tuesday spoke of our Covenant with God requiring us to go to the people dwelling in darkness with a word of hope. In the Gospel of the same day Jesus spoke of the “Resurrection of the Condemned.” His reference was to those who would be raised and damned because of their wickedness. But a correlation is also the idea that those trapped in a brutal life of poverty and violence, by their circumstances, deserve a hand to be lifted out of their tough life.

Spurred on by these readings, and made possible because of a humanitarian assistance we had recently provided to someone in the territory of the local gang (helping a young woman with a prosthetic leg), we were able to work safe passage and go with Mother Theresa’s Sisters (Missionaries of Charity) to their burned hospital in Sans Fils.

The Sisters wanted to assess the damage first hand, and we also wanted to show that even while religious people are themselves refugees from those areas, we will persist in mission.

This hospital was founded by Mother Theresa herself. You will see a few pictures below, with the Sisters. “Love among the ruins.”

You won’t see in the picture all the bandits, some 30 of them, with their big guns. If I took a picture there would be no camera left. They were not there to harm, and in fact helped the Sisters by holding flashlights in dark places, carrying some salvageable things to the truck, and giving their own take on whjat happened there in discussions with Junior, Andre, Jocelynson and Fanfan.

Our general area of Tabarre (and nearby Clercine) are overrun with bandits, and there is no lack of shooting. Houses are burned, there are deaths, but thankfully nor massacres like in Mirebalais.

So the 27 Sisters who are elderly (mentioned in my last message) are now afraid to come to Tabarre. They are looking for someplace in the Provinces to go. But three need to go to Cape Haitian and we are working on helicopter transport now. The trouble is, helicopters have also been shot in this chaos.

The mountains of Kenscoff are no better off than they were at last writing. There was a massacre last weekend near Berlo. But those in our NPH “St Helene” home and school still feel safe enough and confident enough not to come down to Tabarre.

But as I said, Tabarre is also difficult.

There is no one in the country free of fear and worry. Prayers help enormously, as does working on the farm, and constant help to the victims and the vulnerable.

So does hanging together with good people- and there are many!

What I do every day....March 30, 2025

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It is very much a suffering for me to have no news of the gunshot kidnapped man I wrote about a few days ago. God knows we did our best to convince the gangs involved to have mercy and release him. I don’t even know if he is dead or alive.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If I were kidnapped and also seriously wounded, I would hope someone would try to work every angle to free me and save me.

The gangs are advancing in their stronghold on the country. The Kenscoff mountains are even more penetrated. Much of downtown Port au Prince including wealthy suburbs are overrun by gangs.

Many nuns and priests have had to evacuate Port au Prince over the past few weeks, to get out of the line of direct shooting and because their missions have been overrun by gangs.

I don’t know about the Archdiocesan parishes, but most Religious Congregations are refugees from the bandits

Most evacuated during pauses between prolonged gunfire.

Others were rescued by the police.

It’s a long list of refugee Religious Congregations.

We have helped directly in some of the cases, and we have even today calls for help from two others

We are trying to do what we can as fast as we can.

What is particularly challenging is that one Congregation has to evacuate 27 elderly, disabled and demented Sisters. They have no place to bring them because they have already abandoned their institutions in Pacot and Sacré Coeur and have no where else to put the sick sisters

They need a lot of help evacuating also because the conditions of the Sisters require ambulances.

Elderly Sisters, worn out from a life of service in Schools and Hospitals, running from bandits with no where to go.

We are trying to see how to receive them in Tabarre temporarily at least. Tomorrow the superior will come to visit and see what we can offer.

Of the abandoned missions some are schools, some are Motherhouses of the Congregation, some are convent schools, some are clinics.

It is an unbelievable reality. Refugees in their own country, a country no one can any longer recognize. It reminds me of the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt. Except that Egypt is right here.

What I do every day...March 26, 2025

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There was plenty of shooting at Tabarre Bridge last night. I did not hear of any deaths this morning, and we are grateful there was no terrorizing of the neighborhood, refugees running in every direction in the dark, bodies on the street from a massacre. Strange to be glad it was “just shooting.”

A kidnapped victim in our neighborhood this morning was not as lucky. Bullets hit a number of buildings and he was taken away in blood. He is a foreigner but I don’t know from where. I have intercede with gangs sympathetic to the humanitarian corridors we keep trying to carve out- like Moses opening the Red Sea- the corridors often close fast enough right after succeeding.

I even have pictures of his injuries from the gangs who are holding him. At least three bullet injuries. In then picture he looks dead, but they assure me he is not- but they won’t turn him over to me as I persistently have pleaded throughout the day. Even as late as tonight.

The listen to my arguments and tell me why they cannot give in.

As has been painfully shown many times over these years, and even again yesterday with the killed Kenyan soldier, the body is worth as much dead as alive, so why fight to save the person. The ransom stays the ransom.

It is agonizing, even though he is unknown to me. I am consumed with the desire to get him and bring him to the trauma specialists nearby: Doctors Without Borders. But I can’t break through because of the ransom they expect.

This morning we were able to get food and supplies to nuns in Carrefour, and get the three Sisters to Port au Prince who could not get through the gangs. They were joined by a priest who has a throat infection that makes him now unable to speak. Now that he is also here, thanks to our ambulance run today for him and the sister, he will see a doctor friday (the same doctor we evacuated from Port au Prince that I wrote about last week). So he was cut off from access to heathcare and now will see a doctor whose whole office is refugee.

Seven days ago we were asked by the Catholic pastor of a downtown Church to try to bring him to talk to the gangs attacking his area, which has been a war zone for weeks now. We were able to arrange the meeting, and brought him deep into Bel Air. These types of talks for humanitarian corridors are more and more dangerous as everyone gets radicalized with blood lust. All sides.

Even more, when we do these kinds of things now we dont know if we will be bombed while we are meeting- since bombs from drones is the new strategy as of some weeks ago.

The priest held his own in the dicussion seeking peace for his area, even though as he admitted later it is nerve racking to be in “enemy” territory, shelled out by war, with no way out, and surrounded by a gang armed to the teeth and not hiding the fact.

The central part of the discussion was the analysis from the point of view of the gang of why the area of that Church was under attack, with their suggestions as t how to solve it. The action steps are not easy at all but worth trying.

The whole dialogue spun large, covering many layers of what his happening in Haiti for these past years. It would make a fascinating short story to write it up.

The mountains of Kenscoff are no better off at all from gang presence. Many battles these past days, but none too close to our mission. The staff and children are still managing, but we remain vigilant.

We have spent a LOT of time the past week talking to immigration lawyers in the USA and Canada, and seeking out political contacts, because if the cancellelation yesterday of the Biden Parole, which we knew was coming. The families we have sponsored in that program are spared this Haitian nightmare, they entered the USA legally, have been working legally, have their children in schools supported by the taxes they pay, and need no help from welfare or government charity, They are suddenly illegal.

While we understand a parole is of limited duration, the conditions in Haiti are far, far worse than when they left and it would be disastrous for them to return here.

We are making some small headway with and for them.

And for all the above, we pray and pray and pray.

Moses wore his outstretched arms out praying. They needed to be held up by his brother Aaron and his nephew Hur. Maybe its time we start supporting each others tired and outstretched arms, as we pray together!

As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed. 12When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. (Exodus 17:11)


What I do every day...March 16, 2025

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Dear friends

Our alert about moving the NPH project from the mountains of Kenscoff to the Tabarre area, has been cautiously on hold. The director has been able to visit in close proximity to the gangs in the mountain, and learn their plans and goals, from gardeners carrying goods from the mountains for sale in Petionville. I won’t say much about it except that our concerns continue and we will keep monitoring.

In the meantime Port au Prince is methodically surrounded by gangs and violent conflict. We have heard from two different groups of nuns who have to abandon their missions. One of the groups we were able to help last Monday, and their compound in Port au Prince is now empty in gang territory.

The bravery of a few members of my team is inspirational to me. Junior, Andre and Jocelynson never have the slightest hesitation to go with me into troubled areas, and on Monday into that dangerous neighborhood under sporadic gunfire to evacuate a Sister who needed to leave by ambulance, because she is a victim of stroke as of a few years.

When we delivered her to a different convent in an area that to a safer (for now), I offered a prayer of thanksgiving and asked her if she wanted to add to it. She said she is very much aware that she is one of the VERY VERY FEW refugees in Port au Prince, that has some place to run too.

She was deeply pained to know how many mothers with children under their arms, how many old people walking with sticks as canes, how many disabled pulled along through the streets are just running in panic across danger lines with no place to go. No protection from rain, from passersby, from harsh sleeping conditions, scant hope for food.

It is really the story of Les Miserables, in spades.

We have doctor friends now packing in panic, moving their offices out of the area near by the sisters, on Chemin des Dalles. It is a country of refugees, all classes.

Other members of my team spent the whole last week helping a friend, a merchant, right up the street, move his merchandise to a safer place. He is being robbed massively by the local area gangs, albeit it very low level members.

The bravery of our teams in Kenscoff, and Tabarre, the bravery of our workers, of nuns and doctors around the country, and of the ordinary person, is phenomenal.

Many years ago in Cite Soleil we use to show movies in neighborhoods to children and youth, to try to give them examples of heroes, of saints, of positive and successful ways of living. Even though it seems like a pipe dream dangling positive ideas before the eyes of people who are hungry and too used to bullets and cadavers, we are trying again in one area to see if we have any favorable results.

I copy here below todays security alert sent to subscribers, to give you a clear idea of what we are living.

Thanking God for the faith, courage and solidarity that are obvious all around us, I take the chance to wish all reading this a Happy St Patrick’s Day tomorrow.

Here is the security alert:

Security Advisory: Increased Gang Activity and Escalating Threats in Port-au-Prince

Date: March 16, 2025

The security situation in Port-au-Prince continues to deteriorate as gangs expand their territorial control and engage in ongoing clashes with the Haitian National Police (PNH) and local brigades. The majority of the downtown area is now classified as a red zone, with several key thoroughfares experiencing active hostilities.

Current Security Concerns:

• Downtown Areas: Streets such as Delmas 30, Delmas 32, and Avenue Christophe are contested, with ongoing armed confrontations. Movement through these areas is extremely high risk.

• Turgeau & Pacot: The area is under immediate threat, prompting strict enforcement of barricades and curfews by local brigades.

• Canapé Vert: The area is under immediate threat, prompting strict enforcement of barricades and curfews by local brigades.

• Airport Road: Gangs continue to target this route with shootings, kidnappings, and violent engagements. Extreme caution is advised for any travel in this vicinity.

• Kenscoff Region: Fighting persists in the mountain areas, exacerbating instability in surrounding zones.

Advisory for Movement & Safety:

• Avoid all non-essential travel, especially in downtown Port-au-Prince and surrounding high-risk areas.

• Expect heightened aggressiveness at static checkpoints manned by local brigades. Maintain a low profile, comply with security directives, and be prepared for thorough inspections.

• Monitor real-time security updates and maintain communication with trusted contacts.

• If travel is necessary, utilize secure transportation and have contingency plans in place.

The situation remains highly fluid, and further escalations are possible. All personnel are urged to exercise maximum vigilance and adhere to security protocols.