www.travelvideo.tv/news, Rajasthan, India

Relief Riders International (R.R.I.) is a group of workers that go to remote villages, on horseback, to implement their mission to provide free medical aid.

According to the World Health Organization, there are about 38 million blind people in the world of which about 12 million live in India. R.R.I. is now poised to bring its ‘Give the Gift of Sight’ campaign to rural areas in Rajasthan as the majority of the state's population suffers from eye-related illnesses.

Last year, in October 2005, R.R.I.’s Executive Director Alexander Souri visited Dr. V.K Gupta’s eye surgery clinic in the desert village of Jhunjunu. Dr. Gupta, who is counted as one of the India's leading eye surgeons, has more than 25 years of experience and has performed over 7,000 operations. Along with his expertise R.R.I. offers to do about 100 eye surgeries, in its first eye camp.

The camp will be held in the primary health care centre in Mehansar, Rajasthan. Educational campaigns will also be carried out in these camps, to teach the basics of eye care and methods to prevent blindness.

According to Mr. Souri, R.R.I. has always combined travel with humanitarian vision. He says, “Our relief riders are inspired by the beauty of Rajasthan. Nothing would make us happier than to give somebody another opportunity to see the land they live in.”