In an effort to combat the 5% HIV rate and other sexually-transmitted infections in the bateyes, the Canadian Project Fund for Local Initiatives and the USAID/CONECTA funded separately a one-to-two-year project for BRA Dominicana, as part of a consortium, to address Mother-to-child vertical transmission ? and HIV/AIDS education and prevention in 30 batey communities in the province of Monte Plata. ?This project is critical and timely to help save lives in these impoverished communities,? said Maria Virtudes Berroa, Executive Director of BRA Dominicana.

The project focuses on improved access to information and prevention services in regards to HIV/AIDS transmission, as well as primary health care to a population between 0 to 44 years of age, including those already living with the virus. ?These actions will help reduce the risks of HIV/AIDS transmission and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) during pregnancy among 16 to 44 year-old female residents ? and treat opportunistic diseases,? added Berroa.

The project bases its core preventive actions by selecting 35 health promoters and 350 women of childbearing age and with the capacity to conceive. The promoters are trained and tasked to educate these women and others about the risks of infections and contraction ? and preventive measures. They are also trained to handle basic information about STDs and HIV/AIDS, and to serve as support personnel for implementation and execution of the project during identification, contact and follow-up phases. Finally, the promoters are responsible to select a group of 24 adolescents and young adults (15 to 24 years of age) to serve as multipliers of knowledge in their own communities. ?A total of 720 adolescents and young adults, called the Volunteer Youth Network, are expected to be actively engaged in the campaign,? concluded Berroa.

We need your support to keep this project going. By making a tax-deductible donation of $100 or more, you will help BRA secure enough medicines to provide caring treatment to HIV-infected persons in the bateyes.

You can mail a check payable to Batey Relief Alliance at P.O. Box 300565, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11230 or Give on line

For more information, please contact Ulrick Gaillard at (917) 627-5026 or bra@bateyrelief.org. You may also contact our office in the Dominican Republic at (809) 540-4947 and speak in Spanish to Maria Virtudes Berroa, Executive Director of BRA Dominicana.

The Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) is offering co-sponsorship opportunities to organizations that will cover the travel and lodging costs of one or more panelists living outside of New York. The organizations need not necessarily be directly connected with the panelists for whom they wish to cover the expenses. An organization may simply make a donation of $1000 or more to receive a co-sponsorship spot. Sponsorship opportunities are also available for $5000 or more.

Sponsored by Barnard College and Columbia University International AIDS Program, BRA hosts its 3rd annual international conference entitled, “HIV/AIDS in Haiti and the Dominican Republic: a Bilateral Challenge. The event will be held at Barnard College on Saturday, April 30, 2005 from 10:00am to 7:00pm.

Co-sponsoring or sponsoring organizations will be mentioned in the program agenda, flyers, posters, internet and the media. Please let us know the organization(s) you wish to co-sponsor the event or cover your conference expenses. And please forward this email to others.

All tax-deductible checks should be made payable and mailed to:
Batey Relief Alliance
P.O. Box 300565
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11230

Funds raised will be used towards BRA’s HIV/AIDS testing, education and prevention program in the bateyes of the Dominican Republic.

For more information about the conference, please visit our website at www.bateyrelief.org, or contact Ulrick Gaillard at (917) 627-5026 or bra@bateyrelief.org.

Thank you in advance for your support.
Ulrick GAILLARD

BROOKLYN, New York, December 20, 2004. The International Foundation awarded the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) $5000 to strenghten its mobile health project in the bateyes of the Dominican Republic. “We are happy to add our support to this worthy endeavor,” said John D. Carrico, Secretary-Treasurer for the New Jersey-based foundation.

?This grant will help save many lives, by ensuring that children and families in the bateyes continue to enjoy the basic human right to access freely basic health care,? said Ulrick Gaillard, Executive Director of the BRA.

The batey population suffers inordinately from extreme poverty and the lack of access to basic health care, preventive health education and training. Fertility rates reach as high as 4.0, well above the Dominican national average of 2.8. Only 1.2% of the women reported using protective means against unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted infections. Although the national HIV infection rate is 1%, 5% of the batey population is infected.

The population also suffers from various diseases due to the consumption of contaminated water, mismanagement of shared latrines, lack of hygiene and health services, and their inability to resolve these problems on their own. Families and children, as a result, suffer from high infant mortality, diarrheal diseases, respiratory infections, intestinal parasites, among others. ?In these cases, it is highly beneficial for the population that has so very little access to bring the care to them inside their own communities,? said Dr. Raymond Thertulien, BRA’s Medical Director.

BRA has put in operation a 30-foot, fully-equipped and staffed mobile clinic inside the bateyes of Monte Plata for almost two years. It travels to various bateyes and serves about thirty bateyes and other needy rural communities in the area. Our health care providers see between 200 and 400 patients per month, and provide general consults, dental care, eye exams and eyeglasses, women?s healthcare and HIV/AIDS testing. We also distribute medicines and vitamins to complete patients? treatment.

This one-of-a-kind project is part of BRA?s humanitarian health intervention in the bateyes. Other BRA projects include a medical center complex in construction at Batey Cinco Casas, a Blindness Prevention program, distribution of essential medicines and medical supplies to member organizations, placement of volunteers and annual medical missions.

“Because we are an ongoing operation, open five days a week all year round, we have a tremendous need for additional funding. We treat a wide range of ailments including parasites, skin infections, eye disorders, high blood pressure, diabetes, malnutrition, chronic musculo-skeletal pain and the flu,” added Gaillard.

BRA encourages you too to support this important project by making a tax-deductible money donation payable to: Batey Relief Alliance, P.O. Box 300565, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11230. You may also make an online secure donation by clicking at Donate Now!