WASH for Batey Communities (phase 2)

The Dominican Republic is home to approximately 230 rural communities known as “bateyes” set up around state-run sugar mills, which once formed the economic backbone of this small Caribbean nation. The bateyes are socioeconomically isolated communities previously built by the government on sugar cane plantations to house cane cutters, mostly from neighboring Haiti. Today, both Haitians and their offspring and Dominicans live in the bateyes in extreme poverty with limited access to essential services, including clean drinking water—a fundamental human right.