This Holiday Season, Give a Precious Gift

GREAT BARRINGTON, MA - Every holiday season we are overwhelmed with possibilities. Should we give iPods to the ones we love, jewelry, clothes,music or movies? But what if this year, you gave a truly special gift!Nothing you could hold in your hand, but something that touched the heart.

Relief Riders International (RRI), a pioneer in VolunTourism, offers a unique combination of exotic travel through Rajasthan in rural India with the opportunity to transform the lives of its participants and the lives of those we visit. Winner of Outside Magazine's Best Trips of 2005, RRI is a leader in humanitarian travel.

We know there are many, many thousands of people who for many reasons cannot ride with us on our extraordinary Marwari horses through the stunning scenery of the Thar Desert. But this holiday season, we ask that you join us in a very special way by supporting our charitable missions.

On every trip, our riders stop to set up medical camps for rural villagers,providing free cataract eye surgery, giving goats to families in need, and distributing school supplies to local children.

We have created two special programs that offer our supporters the opportunity to very simply change the lives of others.

For every $65 you contribute to our Give The Gift of Sight program, another person sees. For every $65 you contribute to our Give a Goat program,another family takes a step toward economic survival.

So how do these programs work? In 2005, we had a chance to witness the extraordinary work of one India's premier eye surgeons, Dr. V.K. Gupta. Dr. Gupta has more than 25 years experience and has performed over 7000 successful operations.

We resolved then and there to set up eye surgery camps as part of our relief rides to Rajasthan. On February 11 - 26, 2006 we held our first "Give TheGift of Sight" clinic at the Primary Health Care Center in the village ofMehansar. 575 villagers with eye problems were screened on the first day ofthe eye clinic, and 87 patients qualified for and received sight-saving cataract eye surgery.

It is important to note that cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide. They are responsible for 81% of blindness in India, and there are an estimated 20,000 blind people living in Rajasthan. In Third World countries like India, a blind person, without family support, has an incredibly short life expectancy of about three years. With your help RRI will do our very best to tackle this problem.

In addition to the eye surgery clinic, Relief Riders International Executive Director Alexander Souri and his support team from the Indian Red Cross set up camps to provide medical care to over 2,500 villagers. RRI, in coordination with a professional theater group, provided HIV/AIDS education program in two villages. Riders also distributed school supplies to 1200 children. And continuing its successful "Give A Goat Program," goats were distributed to 57 needy families.

You should know that we are directly involved in our relief campaigns. We are there at the health clinics, we help Dr. Gupta and his team examine his patients, we transport the goats and are there to deliver them to worthy families. There is no administrative waste; there is no bureaucracy. With this one-on-one, personal and authentic connection between RRI and the people of Rajasthan we now know we are making a substantial contribution to rural India. And it was because of this success that Mr. Souri was recently invited to meet with President Kallam of India to update him on RRI's humanitarian programs.

In June, 2006, RRI established a relationship with Documentary Educational Resource (DER.org) giving 501(c)(3) non-profit status to both its Give the Gift of Sight and Give a Goat programs.

Many people dream of making a difference; Relief Riders financial supporters do it each and every day.

As Alexander Souri, Executive Director of RRI noted: "Each holiday season we are reminded of the joys of giving. I promise that if you ride with us, or support our critically important work this holiday season in Rajasthan, you will give, and get back as much as you give."

Please make a charitable contribution now and forever change the lives of the villagers of Rajasthan.

For more information about the New Year's Relief Ride to Rajasthan, contact:

Relief Riders International
304 Main Street - Suite 3B
Great Barrington, Massachusetts 01230
United States
(413) 329-5876
Email: info@reliefridersinternational.com

MEDIA CONTACT: Alexander Souri / 413.329.587

To contribute to the Give the Gift of Sight Program:
http://reliefridersinternational.com/sight.htm

To Contribute to the Give a Goat Program:
http://reliefridersinternational.com/goat.htm