YASAIRA
Yasaira Calpio, 28, lives in this one-room shack in Gonzalo Municipality in the Dominican Republic, an area near Monte Plata that has endless hectares of old sugar cane fields that have gone to weed. A mother of three, Calpio last year learned that she had become infected with HIV; fortunately, she had a doctor who referred her to the Batey Relief Alliance. Although the organization had no medication at that time, it transported her each month to Santo Domingo to receive the anti-HIV drugs. “I didn’t even know there was medication,” she says. Now, Yasaira is registered with BRA’s HIV/AIDS program where she receives free medical care, ART, nutrition and clothing.