BATEY CINCO CASAS, Monte Plata, Dominican Republic – In partnership with the Rotary Club Mirador in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA Dominicana) launched in December a new water project called “Saving Lives with Purified Water.” “The title of this project is no exaggeration, as in the bateyes, access to clean water can certainly mean the difference between life and death,” said Dr. Jonas Rosario, BRA Dominicana’s Medical Director.

Dr. Rosario added that access to clean water for Batey residents is a major institutional goal for the BRA, a grave concern in the bateyes, and a major source of illness in the patient population. “With no potable water available, most batey residents rely on rivers, rain, or open wells as a source of water—all of which contain water-borne pathogens,” added Dr. Rosario. In recent focus groups conducted by BRA in Monte Plata, batey residents listed clean water as their number one priority. Based on BRA’s current statistics, 14% of patients who visit its Clinic at Batey Cojobal seek treatment for intestinal parasitic infections.

Dirty water carries dangerous parasites that cause a series of gastrointestinal problems including diarrhea, which in young children, can be lethal. Parasitic infections are a common cause of death in children under five and can also contribute to anemia and other health problems. While BRA has been treating water-borne illnesses for years at its health facilities, this initiative gets to the root of the problem—preventing people from getting these infections and reducing their spread within the community.

Impoverished batey inhabitants cannot afford to buy gallons of clean water. Responding to this need, the project provides several communities with filters to purify their water. During December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, Club Rotario members conducted workshops to teach BRA personnel and batey residents the theoretical and practical skills to build and maintain the filters. Subsequently, two filters were put to work at BRA’s medical center inside Batey Cinco Casas, and the rest were distributed to seven surrounding marginalized communities.

The BRA is currently working with the Rotary Club of New York, Wallkill Valley Rotary Club and the Dominican’s Rotary Club Arroyo Hondo Santo Domingo to allocate additional funding to the project in order to distribute water filters to more families.

For more information on the BRA’s water/sanitation project, please visit BRA’s website at www.bateyrelief.org. To learn how to contribute to BRA, contact Ulrick Gaillard at bra@bateyrelief.org or 917.627.5026.

BATEY COJOBAL, Monte Plata, Dominican Republic – On January 23rd 2007, the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA Dominicana) organized a full day of learning and fun for twenty-two children who are HIV-positive or live with a family member who has the virus. The children live in impoverished bateyes in the province of Monte Plata where basic services like water, sewage and electricity are scarce. “Poor living conditions often pose a serious threat to the already-fragile health of children who are HIV-positive,” said Dr. Ana Celia Carrero, BRA Dominicana’s project and HIV Care Unit coordinator. Dr. Carrero added that those children have weak immune systems that can not protect them against diseases caused by contaminated waters or foods.

BRA recognized the importance of creating awareness among the children by teaching them the importance of taking care of themselves in order to remain healthy—especially those who live with caretakers who are HIV-positive and are at times too sick to properly look after them. Dr. Carrero reminded the children of simple steps, like washing their hands, eating healthy and brushing their teeth, they can take to fight dangerous germs. The children had also time to run around, have fun, eat cake, and play with toys donated by the Dominican National Lottery.

In partnership with the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative, USAID/Family Health International and the Dominican Ministry of Health, BRA Dominicana implements the “Rainbow Project”—a comprehensive HIV/AIDS education, prevention and treatment program where more than 2700 AIDS sufferers, people living with HIV, and orphaned/vulnerable children receive free testing, antiretroviral treatment, medical care and medicines, nutrition, and pre and post counseling.

For more information about BRA’s HIV/AIDS program, please visit www.bateyrelief.org. For a donation, contact Ulrick Gaillard at bra@bateyrelief.org.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic—Haitian-born superstar, Emeline Michel, traveled to the Dominican Republic on March 1 on a three-day personal journey to the bateyes where more than 200,000 of her compatriots and their descendants live. Ms. Michel was welcomed and hosted by the humanitarian aid organization, the Batey Relief Alliance—BRA Dominicana.

The artist traveled to the province of Monte Plata where she made her first stop at batey Cinco Casas visiting BRA’s medical facilities and talking to local residents. She then traveled in the afternoon to batey Cojobal (a 2 ½ drive from Santo Domingo) where a multitude of children and adults awaited her with great joy, multicolored balloons, placards, and songs, “Bienvenida Emeline! Bienvenida Emeline!” “It was a memorable moment for me—having sung for so many years for countless audiences the emotionally charged song, Viejo, about the conditions of Haitians in the bateyes, and to now be right in the middle of that reality,” said Ms. Michel.

The singer, popularly known as the “Queen of Kreyol Songs” greeted the crowd emotionally in her mother tongue—Haitian Kreyol, “Bonjou zanmim yo!” or in English “Greetings my friends!” and sang Haitian folk songs, including “Tolalito” where she engaged the children to sing with her. After her short and improvised performance, the artist signed autographs and gave away CDs of her albums and personalized posters to the crowd. Many men and women—old and young—babies and children were all proud of the visit, as it was the fist time a world-famed Haitian artist has ever visited the bateyes. Ms. Michel explained that it was a complete shock to see a different world than what she had ever envisioned, “it is great to finally have my own insight—a priceless experience.”

A group of HIV/AIDS patients in the BRA’s HIV/AIDS prevention/treatment program was also there to talk to the artist about their lives and their life-saving treatment. There Ms. Michel had an intimate connection with one little girl who is HIV positive and an orphan after she had lost both of her parents to HIV/AIDS. “I returned home with my heart filled with both hope and despair—hope to witness the tremendous amount of work and care being provided by the Batey Relief Alliance, and despair to realize how many of us, instead of truly helping, have turned our backs away,” concluded Ms. Michel.

For more information about this release, contact Ulrick Gaillard at bra@bateyrelief.org or 917.627.5026. To learn more about the humanitarian work of the Batey Relief Alliance, visit www.bateyrelief.org.

Photo: Emeline Michel posing with one of the children at batey Cojobal. Credit Batey Relief Alliance.