NEW YORK, New York. – Batey Cinco Casas in the province of Monte Plata is the site chosen by the Batey Relief Alliance to celebrate its 10-year anniversary on October 23, 2007. More than 1000 people are expected to attend the festivities at the organization’s new medical center complex, including diplomatic, government and media officials, BRA’s personnel and boards of directors, local and international partners, and batey residents. The Dominican President, Dr. Lionel Fernandez Reyna, will be invited to attend as a guest of honor.

The Batey Relief Alliance will also use the occasion to inaugurate its HIV/AIDS Treatment Unit and a new Dental Clinic to be named after its donors, Dr. Thomas and Sara Beague. Special recognition awards will also be presented to founding members of the board of directors, outstanding employees and volunteers, and longtime partners who have contributed substantially and consistently to the advancement of the organization’s humanitarian mission.

Founded in the United States on October 23, 1997 by US-trained attorney Ulrick Gaillard, the Batey Relief Alliance, since then, has quickly developed into a competitive player within the international humanitarian circle. In just ten years, the organization has secured the partnership of dozens of key institutions, recruited hundreds of volunteers, and invested more than $50 million to deliver critical health services and essential medicines to more than 200,000 living in impoverished bateyes, urban barrios and rural slums of the Dominican Republic. In 2005, it received its most prestigious recognition from former US President, Bill Clinton, during a benefit concert organized in Philadelphia with members of the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras.

The Batey Relief Alliance’s track record also includes installing two modern medical facilities, the first and only kinds inside any batey, and starting the first comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention and antiretroviral treatment program in the Monte Plata region; implementing major projects in tuberculosis, blindness, water/sanitation, nutrition and micronutrients, and preventive health education; and delivering a cadre of other health services in primary care, dentistry, gynecology, ophthalmology, pediatrics, counseling and laboratory.

Some of the celebration’s awardees include the USAID, Lions Clubs International Foundation, the Clinton Foundation, Catholic Medical Mission Board, Food for the Poor, Direct Relief International, Disciples of Christ’s Week of Compassion, the Ministry of Health (SESPAS), the State Sugar Council (CEA), the Canadian Fund, etc.