Jeep adventure tours help humanity in India

Read more about: adventure, children, culture, health, humanitarian, India, schools, voluntourism, wildlife

A new humanitarian-aid jeep adventure tour in Rajasthan, India, launching just before 2010 by Relief Workers International (RWI), offers travelers the chance to join its second humanitarian aid adventure in the Rajasthan desert — just in time for the 2010 New Year.

With the Rann Riders Resort in Dasada as a “base camp,” participants will explore remote desert villages in the stunning, geographically-unique region known as the Little Rann of The Kutch between December 22, 2009 and January 2, 2010 – traveling each day to different villages to distribute school supplies to children and assist RWI’s team of doctors to provide medicine and critical health care for needy villagers.

Each excursion allows participants to make an enormous difference in the lives of the villagers they visit.

“At the heart of every RWI excursion is the very meaningful interaction between trip participants and local residents,” said Alexander Souri, executive director of RWI. “No matter what life experiences they’ve had or what skills they possess, each trip participant performs a pivotal, integral role in our aid efforts. As a result, both villagers’ and participants’ lives are improved.”

Bringing help to those in need

RWI will bring medical, educational and labor-focused help to the destination communities while giving participants a once in a lifetime travel experience; exploring the region’s dazzling landscapes and landmarks while becoming fully-immersed in the local culture.

“It’s important that, alongside the crucial work we do, we take time to appreciate the beautiful terrain, fascinating wildlife, historic monuments, and cultural traditions that surround us,” Souri said. “This is an integral part of the RWI experience.”

One of the mainstays of the experience are RWI’s “mobile eye camps,” which allow villagers blinded by cataracts – a widespread problem in this sun-scorched region – to undergo a very simple surgery and regain their sight. The mobile eye camp will be set up in the village of Patdi, where they will help RWI’s medical team to do check-ups, organize triage, and distribute medical supplies for aftercare.

Trip participants will also provide books and supplies for schoolchildren at Patdi and other villages while learning how to educate and enrich them about local culture and its place in the world. Trip members will get to meet with Ganthar, a non-governmental organization that created “Floating Desert Schools,” which help educate the region’s semi-nomadic children.

RWI will also bring participants to the Rann’s salt pans to meet salt workers, who form the foundation of the local economy; attend an interactive seminar about global climate change; and meet with the honorary secretary of the Indian Red Cross’ Gujarat state branch in Ahmedabad.

An offshoot of Relief Riders International (RRI), an aid organization which has provided humanitarian relief to Rajasthani villagers via horseback since 2004, RWI seeks to address the same issues as its sister organization: providing general and pediatric medical care; treating blindness; and donating livestock, books, and school supplies to villagers. In the five years since its inception, RRI has provided aid to some 15,000 villagers, half of them children.

“After four years of offering unique voluntourism expeditions on horseback, we were delighted to create a whole new humanitarian travel experience for those not interested in riding,” said Souri. “The aims are the same and our success should be as well.”

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