January 1st, 2016


Dear Friends,

Ever since our first Relief Ride we have always been committed to child and women's healthcare. This commitment has expressed itself through the majority of our programs, from de-worming children, gifting goats to widows, and building bathrooms for students in poor rural schools.

12 years ago on our inaugural Relief Ride we offered gynecological screenings for the very first time to women in rural Rajasthan. While this program was very successful, we were faced with some simple and surreal challenges. Women in rural regions found it very difficult to be treated by male doctors, especially at their first gynecological visit. This was further complicated by the fact that many of the patients felt embarrassed, and had never spoken about women's health issues before.

Luckily on our second Relief Ride we were able to overcome these challenges by hiring women gynecologists to work at our medical camps. While we continued to offer gynecological screenings for the next three years, our medical data indicated that there was a much greater need for our eye and dental programs. At the time, given how young we were as a company, economics dictated that we could only manage the cost of eye surgeries and dental treatments, as opposed to the much higher cost of breast and cervical cancer treatments.

Today, India still faces a heavy shortage of gynecologists and obstetricians. In fact rural areas all over India only have 23.4 per cent of the obstetricians and gynecologists that they require. With these figures in mind RRI is recommitting to support women's health in rural areas of Rajasthan.

Starting on our February 2016 Nagaur Relief Ride our free medical camps will now be offering gynecological screenings by two women gynecologists providing breast and cervical cancer screening and education, in addition to our existing eye and dentistry programs.

Come ride with us in the warmth of the desert sun and help support the development of this much needed program.

February 2016 Nagaur Relief Ride: February 18th through March 2nd, 2016

Wishing all of you a wonderful New Year!

Sincerely,

Alexander Souri


"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." – Eleanor Roosevelt

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