WATERTOWN, Connecticut. – The prestigious Connecticut-based Taft School’s main auditorium was fully packed with more than 600 students, faculty, and other guests coming to hear a lecture delivered by the Batey Relief Alliance’s founder/CEO, Ulrick Gaillard. The event took place on Thursday, February 28, at 10:00am.

Gaillard spoke about the ten-year work history of the Batey Relief Alliance, the organization’s collaborative effort to address the socio-economic and health needs of children and families severely affected by poverty, disease, and hunger inside the Dominican Republic’s bateyes—sugarcane plantations rural communities, and plans to expand the organization’s humanitarian mission into the neighboring Republic of Haiti.

“Ulrick made a very big impression on the whole school,” said Annabel Smith, the event organizer and Chair of Humanities and Director of Service Learning and Human Rights. But Gaillard also took the time on the 27th to meet with students individually and attend class sessions where he held one-on-one talks and answered questions.

The lecture is part of Gaillard’s effort to promote and advocate awareness of the needs of the populations the Batey Relief Alliance serves, and to encourage public participation in the organization’s projects.

Ulrick Gaillard is scheduled to speak at the Unite for Sight’s annual conference at Yale University on April 12, 2008.

For more information about this release or to schedule a lecture with Ulrick Gaillard, contact the Batey Relief Alliance at bra@bateyrelief.org or (917) 627-5026. Visit www.bateyrelief.org.

BATEY CINCO CASAS, Dominican Republic. – On February 8th, 30 families living inside bateyes Cinco Casas and Cojobal in the province of Monte Plata received 30 bio-sand water filters through the funding and technical support of the Rotary Club of New York and the Rotary Club Arroyo Hondo Santo Domingo.

The project will benefit 740 residents, many of whom are children and their families, pregnant women, and the elderly, and some of whom live with HIV/AIDS. The recipients are mostly undocumented Haitians immigrant workers and Dominicans living in extreme poverty with limited access to potable water, sanitations, food, adequate shelter, or medical care. The batey population has the Dominican Republic’s highest HIV/AIDS rate (8% as compared to the national average of only 1%) and a high rate of parasite infections, which contribute to an infant mortality of 31 deaths per 1,000 births.

Many batey residents consume waters from contaminated sewers or rivers – affecting most significantly children and PLWHA with a low immune system to defend against parasitic infections. Recipients also received training on how to operate and maintain the filters. The rotary clubs and the Batey Relief Alliance hope to expand the project into other bateyes creating a health life for more families.

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Monte Plata, Dominican Republic – January 30, 2008. – Hundreds of people gathered in the municipality of Monte Plata to celebrate the opening of the “National Year for Health Promotion,” during which a ceremony and parade were carried out through the town.

BRA Dominicana (BRA) led the march with the Provincial Department of Health and diverse non-governmental organizations, taking part in the event to create consciousness and promote health and healthy living.

In accordance with the Millennium Development Goals, BRA continues to develop permanent projects in medical attention, prevention and health promotion in more than 60 bateyes and rural communities in the province. The programs include comprehensive care for children, prevention of tuberculosis, prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV, family planning, immunizations, attention to hypertension, and prevention of cervical-uterine cancer.

BRA develops home visits and educational activities, training approximately 120 community health promoters and educating more than 500 patients each week, all of whom receive quality services from the organization’s Medical Clinic and the Healthcare Center.

BRA has been working on a campaign to change health behaviors by educating communities about issues of blindness, malnutrition, infectious diseases, parasites, STI/HIV/AIDS, dengue, leptospirosis, among others.

BRA collaborates with strategic partners like the Clinton Foundation, the Dominican State Department for the Control of STI/HIV/AIDS (DIGECITTS), Population Services International, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), ADEMI, the Presidential Commission for AIDS (COPRESIDA), the Canadian Fund for local initiatives, the Presbyterian Church USA, among others.

For more information, please contact the executive director of BRA Dominicana, Maria Virtudes Berroa, at (809) 540-4947 or bradominicana@codetel.net.do. In order to learn more about the humanitarian work of BRA, please visit the website: www.bateyrelief.org/bradominicana.