Documentary highlights the fight for basic human rights

The Price of Sugar screening supports student medical mission to the Dominican Republic

The film follows Father Christopher Hartley, a Spanish priest, as he organizes workers to fight for basic human rights.

The Price of Sugar, an award winning documentary about the conditions Haitian workers face on sugar plantations in the Dominican Republic, will be screened on Tuesday, Oct. 9, at 5:30 p.m. in the Hiatt Auditorium (Medical School Building, S1-608) and will be followed by a student-led discussion.

The film, which is narrated by Paul Newman and highlights the human cost of producing sugar, follows Father Christopher Hartley, a Spanish priest, as he organizes workers to fight for basic human rights.

Each year, a group of UMMS students and faculty travel to the Dominican Republic during spring break on a medical mission to provide care for these workers. While in the D.R., the group travels to camps—or bateys, as they are known—on the outskirts of the sugar plantations and sets up mobile clinics that provide basic health assessments and care. In advance of these yearly trips, the students hold multiple fundraisers to support the cost of travel, as well as to offset the cost of basic medical supplies and medicine that they bring with them.

The film screening, sponsored by the Dominican Republic Medical Service Initiative, is free, but tax-deductible donations are accepted and encouraged, with proceeds benefitting the student medical service trip to the Dominican Republic. For information about film, visit: http://www.thepriceofsugar.com/about.shtml