The Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) will hold its third annual international conference entitled, “HIV/AIDS in Haiti and the Dominican Republic: a bilateral challenge”. Sponsored by Barnard College and the Columbia University International Family AIDS Program, the event will be held at Columbia University, Schapiro Center, Davis Auditorium, 500 West 120th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue) in the City of New York. The date is Saturday, April 30th from 10:00 am to 7:30pm. Michele Wucker, Senior Fellow at World Policy Institute will be the moderator.

Admission is FREE. The BRA however welcomes your donations to support its life-saving HIV/AIDS testing/education/prevention program in the bateyes of the Dominican Republic. Please mail your tax-deductible checks payable to Batey Relief Alliance at P.O. Box 300565, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11230. You may also make your secure donations ONLINE.

For DIRECTIONS or to reserve a seat, contact Ulrick Gaillard at (917) 627-5026 or bra@bateyrelief.org.

ABOUT BATEY RELIEF ALLIANCE
A batey, whose name originates from an indigenous Taino word, is a
community of workers who live amid the cane fields of the Dominican
Republic. The bateyes are among the country’s poorest areas; typically
constructed from concrete blocks, many have no electricity or running
water, and access to medical care is limited. Most of their residents are
Haitians and their children, often born in the Dominican Republic.

Established in 1997, the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) operates as a
not-for-profit, humanitarian aid entity, uniting member grassroots
organizations, government agencies, universities and the international
community in a strategic partnership to help create a productive and
self-sufficient environment for poor marginalized populations in the
Caribbean. Toward this end, BRA Dominicana is actively involved in
addressing the precarious socio-economic situation of thousands of migrant
children, their families and others languishing in the bateyes, urban and
rural slums and the border zones in Haiti and the Dominican Republic by
raising public awareness – facilitating thoughtful dialogues – and
delivering services in primary health care, HIV/AIDS
prevention/education/treatment, child development, improved water and
sanitation, shelter reconstruction, micro-credit projects, legal aid and
education. Visit us at www.bateyrelief.org.