Three years ago, President Bill Clinton made an emotional plea asking for disaster relief support for the Batey Relief Alliance, after Hurricane Jeanne ravaged Haiti killing 4000 people and leaving a path of destruction. About one month ago, four deadly storms and hurricanes hard hit the country again leaving at 700 dead, destroying thousands of homes, and severely affecting 800,000, including children. And the numbers are growing. Families living in the Dominican Republic’s impoverished bateyes and urban slums were also affected.

Santo Domingo’s inner city neighborhoods, such as Vietnam, La Barquita and Guandules, are extremely poor where residents live dangerously in shanties close to the river. As the storms hard hit with heavy rain, the already fragile houses were completely immersed under water causing a complete catastrophe for all. With the generous support of the Disciples of Christ’s Week of Compassion, the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA Dominicana) delivered to 1375 victims emergency medical aid, antiparasitic treatment, medicines and antibiotics, vitamins, nutrition, and sanitary towels.

While many around the around have pledged millions of dollars in humanitarian aid for Haiti, the Americas’ most impoverished nation, however, very little of that aid has materialized, unfortunately, leaving the population in limbo that is already suffering from food shortages, high unemployment, inadequate healthcare, and severe economic depression. More than 2/3 of Haitians leaves on less than a dollar a day.

The Batey Relief Alliance urges you to honor your pledges and come to the aid of a country that is desperate and on the brink of collapse. Thousands of lives are at stake and we can save some.

Help the Batey Relief Alliance bring its share of support to the people of Haiti by delivering medical care, medicines, vitamins, food rations, and clean water.

Listen to President Bill Clinton.
Donate to the Batey Relief Alliance.

UNITED STATES, September 7, 2008. – New York-based humanitarian aid organization, BATEY RELIEF ALLIANCE, is mounting a disaster relief operation to address the basic needs of children and their families severely affected by 4 back-to-back deadly storms and hurricanes in Haiti.

According to local authority reports, Haiti is the most affected where the storms (Fay, Gustav, Hannah and Ike) have already claimed more than 1000 lives and left 86,000 homeless, dehydrated, hungry and exposed to diseases, mainly in the provinces of Gonaives and Les Cayes. 800,000 people are severely affected, including children. Haiti’s President, Rene Preval, warned that this year’s storms could be worst than 2004’s that killed more than 4,000. The Dominican Republic is also affected especialy in the bateyes, urban slums and rural areas where the populations are vulnerable and extremely poor.

Batey Relief Alliance and BRA Dominicana are joining forces with faith-based groups such as Social Services of Dominican Churches and Dominicano-Haitian Dialogue of Evangelical Churches to deliver medical assistance, medicines, vitamins, food, clean water, and clothes to the victims.

Donors can make online gifts of $35, $50, $100, $250, $500 or more by clicking on BRA’s DONATE NOW. Tax-deductible checks can also be mailed payable to: Batey Relief Alliance, P.O. Box 300565, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11230.

For more information, please contact BRA at (917) 627-5026, bra@bateyrelief.org, bateyrelief@mindspring.com, or visit www.bateyrelief.org.