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.