US Agency for International Development – USAID
As a US government agency, USAID supports democracy, governance, economic development, and improved health services in both the DR and Haiti.
United Nations Children’s Fund – UNICEF
UNICEF works in Haiti and the DR by supporting programs to reduce poverty, improve education, and offer health services for children.
Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico-Haitianas – MUDHA
MUDHA promotes social and economic development among Haitian and Dominican women and children in the bateyes by empowering leaders and by providing resources in health and education. MUDHA wrote a good article for GSC newsletter in 2002 that can be found at http://www.ssrc.org/programs/gsc/gsc_quarterly/newsletter5/content/mudha.page.
Batey Relief Alliance
The BRA unites member organizations who focus on health, education, and documentation status in an effort to improve conditions for all individuals, both Haitian and Dominican, who live in the bateyes. The BRA Web site is an excellent introduction into batey life, and it offers good demographic information.
Center for Justice and International Law – CEJIL
CEJIL promotes human rights in Latin America. CEJIL worked with MUDHA and the International Human Rights Law Clinic to present the case of two undocumented Dominco-Haitians to the IACHR. CEJIL also works to ensure the fair treatment of potential Haitian deportees.
Plan International
Plan works to improve the quality of life of poor children worldwide. In the DR, Plan focuses on education and healthcare.
The DREAM Project
The DREAM Project focuses on improving education on the DR’s north coast. DREAM recognizes the faults of public education in the DR, and it works to improve existing schools and open new schools.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights – IACHR
As part of the OAS, IACHR assesses human rights violations in countries throughout the Americas. The IACHR has a 1999 report in the special reports section of its website titled, “Situation of Haitian Migrant Workers in the Dominican Republic.”
American Baptist International Ministries
American Baptist International Ministries supports Kristy Engle, a nurse who works to improve healthcare in the bateyes.
ASON (Americans Serving Other Nationals) International
ASON’s mission is to help develop Christian leaders who minister to groups in their own country. ASON works with healthcare in Batey Estrella.
Catholic Relief Services – CRS
CRS works internationally to improve human rights and alleviate poverty. In the Dominican Republic, CRS focuses its work on health, education, and human rights, and it works specifically with batey residents and Haitian migrants.
Christian Aid
Christian Aid is a collection of churches in England and Ireland that partner with organizations such as MUDHA to improve batey life.
Christian Reformed World Ministries
CRWM supports long-term missionaries in the DR. CRWM also hosts missions groups who want to visit the bateyes, and they evangelize and build Christian schools in the bateyes.
Church World Service – CWS
CWS organizes and supports missions trips for individual churches that want to visit Dominican bateyes. CWS is very active in 2004 flood relief efforts.
Crossroads
Crossroads supports education, clothing, food, and water ministries in a handful of bateyes on the north coast. Crossroads built a village for cane cutters and their families that offers better living conditions and improved access to public services than those found in the bateyes.
Dominican Republic Exposure Program (Scarboro Missions)
The DR Exposure Program brings Canadian high school students to a batey in Consuelo. They offer students the chance to learn about the DR and experience the poverty of the bateyes.
Episcopal Church in Southwest Florida (Diocese) – Dominican Development Group
The Episcopalian Diocese of Southwest Florida partners with the Episcopalian diocese of the Dominican Republic. The U.S. diocese sends missions teams to work in bateyes, specifically Batey Central in Barahona.
Food for the Poor
Food for the Poor recently expanded its anti-poverty mission to include work in the DR. Its programs in the DR will include medical missions, vocational training, and repair and construction on churches, schools, and clinics.
G.O. Ministries
G.O. Ministries has three ministry hubs on Hispaniola, including one in Batey Nueve. At each hub, G.O.strives to build a church, school, feeding/nutrition center, medical/dental clinic, conference center for leadership training, and dormitory for visiting groups.
Jesuit Refugee Service – JRS
JRS provides direct services to refugees, and it encourages the Dominican government to create fair and effective immigration policy for Haitian refugees.
Lutheran World Federation (LFW)/PROCARIBE
LWF began working in Haiti before the DR, and with its partner organization PROCARIBE, LWF brings healthcare, legal aid, and vocational training to almost 40 bateyes around Santo Domingo and Monte Plata.
Society of the Holy Child Jesus (Response-Ability)
The SHCJ works in a batey outside of Santo Domingo. The SHCJ and Response-Ability volunteers focus on primary and secondary education, yet projects also include health, documentation, and adult education campaigns.
The First Baptist Church of Wallingford, CT
The FBC mission in the DR began in 1990, and it works in La Romana and the surrounding bateyes. FBC partners with the Haitian Missionary Baptist Church in La Romana to build/rebuild churches, support medical personnel, and send their evangelism team to the bateyes.
Compassion
Compassion is a child sponsorship and advocacy ministry that raises funds for food, education, and healthcare for children around the world. Compassion has programs in the Dominican Republic, including programs in the *bateyes*, and through prayer and financial support, Compassion improves the lives of impoverished children.
Floresta
Floresta seeks to reverse the cycle of deforestation and poverty in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico and Tanzania. In its work, Floresta focuses on community development, micro-enterprise credit, and discipleship.
International Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers (and members of their families)
The International Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers, effective beginning July 2003, protects the rights of all migrants and their family members, regardless of documentation status.
Human Rights Watch – HRW (Americas Watch)
HWR investigates international human rights abuses, and it educates citizens and policymakers about human rights violations. HRW published a good report, “Illegal People,” on the plight of Haitians in the Dominican Republic and the tensions that exist between the two nations.
National Coalition for Haitian Rights – NCHR
NCHR advocates for the rights of Haitians around the globe. While the primary focus of the NCHR appears to be Haitian immigrants in the U.S., the Refugee and Migration Program assesses the situation of Haitians in the DR, and it produced a helpful report “Beyond the Bateyes” in May 1996.
Minority Rights Group International – MRG
MRG strives to protect the rights of minority groups around the world. MRG’s report “Migration in the Caribbean: Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Beyond” is informative, and it can be downloaded from their Web site.
International Human Rights Law Clinic
The International Human Rights Law Clinic is located at the UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law. It investigates human rights abuses worldwide, and it published a recent study, “Unwelcome Guests,” on the rights violations surrounding mass deportations of Haitians from the DR.
Progressio
Progressio – Formerly the Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR), Progressio works to build civil society and support the rights of batey residents. Progressio’s website offers access to CIIR’s “Needed but Unwanted.” The report is an excellent resource on the life of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent living in the DR.
We welcome comments about additional organizations that we may have missed. We’re interested in hearing about anyone who is working in the bateyes or who is working with Haitians in the DR. Email Us!
