Published on April 27th, 2014

Through a partnership with Children of the Nations, the Peace Fund paid for rebuilding the home of 10-year old Marcus who lives in the batey of Altagracia near Barahona, Dominican Republic. Bateys are rural communities in the Dominican Republic that originally housed migrant Haitian sugarcane laborers.

Today, bateys continue to have a large Haitian presence, and remain some of the most impoverished communities in the Dominican Republic. Most of the houses the people live in are shacks with roofs made of palm branches or aluminum and siding made of bark. house is approximately 10’ by 15’ and he lives there with his mom and little brother. It has a thatch roof, which could not be replaced because the walls are not stable enough to have a new aluminum roof put on it. So whenever it rains, the roof leaks and the inside of the house gets wet.

Today, bateys continue to have a large Haitian presence, and remain some of the most impoverished communities in the Dominican Republic. Most of the houses the people live in are shacks with roofs made of palm branches or aluminum and siding made of bark. house is approximately 10’ by 15’ and he lives there with his mom and little brother. It has a thatch roof, which could not be replaced because the walls are not stable enough to have a new aluminum roof put on it. So whenever it rains, the roof leaks and the inside of the house gets wet.

Though the people live in what we would consider horrible conditions, the kids seemed so happy. They make do with what they have and don’t need very much. COTN provides the kids with one meal a day. A meal that mainly consists of rice, but for many this is the only meal they get a day.