PRESS RELEASE:
From: The Batey Relief Alliance
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2006 8:15 AM
Subject: BRA Starts Classical Music Program for Kids in the Bateyes.

BRA STARTS CLASSICAL MUSIC PROGRAM FOR KIDS IN THE BATEYES.
http://www.bateyrelief.org/mt/2006/09/bra_starts_classical_music_pro.html

MONTE PLATA, Dominican Republic, August 18, 2006. Early in the mornings,
BRA's new Medical Center located at Batey Cinco Casas is usually bustling
with sounds of busy receptionists, doctors, nurses, patients chatting and
children playing. But in the last two weeks of August, a new and unusual
sound was added to the environment. Only a few meters away from the waiting
room, at the Center's dormitory where Dominican doctors and international
volunteers lodge, some of the youngest neighbors of the clinic gathered to
learn the cello. "Through music, the children can develop the discipline
they will need in their later professional years," said Ulrick Gaillard, CEO
of the BRA and also an accomplished cellist.

Vilma Peguero, a Dominican musician who resides in Dallas, Texas is working
with the BRA on a pilot project to bring music lessons through the Suzuki
method to children who live in impoverished areas of the country, including
the bateyes. BRA is the first institution to undertake such an initiative
inside the bateyes. During the two weeks, Vilma arrived early every day to
welcome an eager crowd of nine children. The daily sessions comprised an
intensive period to introduce the instrument (the cello), impart musical
knowledge and teach practice exercises. Two cellos remained at the house of
a neighbor of the clinic where the children could go in the afternoons to
complete their cello assignments. Now that the two-week period has ended,
the students will travel once a week to the capital for the rest of the year
to continue their the lessons with professor Angela Algrouin. Vilma
explained that after a year, when a commitment to the instrument has been
established, the children could receive a personal instrument to keep.
"There are also plans to expand the program to violin instruction -- and to
eventually create a mini orchestra made of children with limited economic
opportunities," concluded Gaillard.

BRA needs your support in money to pay for the kids' private lessons and
their ground transportation from the bateyes to the country's capital. Cash
donations can be made payable to Batey Relief Alliance, P.O. Box 300565,
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11230. We also welcome donations in violins, cellos and
violas. For more information, please contact Ulrick Gaillard at
bra@bateyrelief.org or 917.627.5026.

The Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) is a humanitarian aid organization
delivering critical health care and essential medicines to children and
families severely affected by poverty, disease and hunger inside the bateyes
(sugar cane plantations communities) of the Domincan Republic. BRA
participates in the Suzuki program to provide children of the bateyes with
the unique opportunity to acquire discipline and to raise their self-esteem.
For more information and to donate instruments, supplies or funds, please
visit BRA at www.bateyrelief.org.