In the Dominican Republic, hundreds of thousands of Haitians work each year in the sugar cane harvest. They live with their families in  shanty towns called "bateys", located on the outskirts of these sugar farms. This report documents the living conditions in these bateys and presents a project aimed at improving the lives of people who live there. Presented at the Journées du cinéma africain in 1987, Le Batey received the prize for Best Canadian Documentary on Africa, awarded by the International Communication Institute.