Welcome to Red Ribbon Adventures - amazing adventures with compassion and hope for the awareness, relief and prevention of HIV/AIDS around the world.

| What | Who| Where | Why | Wow | 

What

Introducing a unique concept in travel for people from all walks of life who want to expand their comfort zone and do something incredible for the world in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Red Ribbon Adventures' mission is to provide small group adventure travel to Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. You will experience all the sights and sounds of your destination, but more importantly, you will have the opportunity to volunteer with, visit and/or support local HIV/AIDS non profits and organizations in the country that you visit. As an international volunteer with Red Ribbon Adventures, you're making a meaningful contribution, working side-by-side with local people and sharing in the goals of a community that warmly welcomes you. You will experience another culture like never before by getting to know its people on a personal level.

Red Ribbon Adventures believes that the most successful approach to international volunteering in the fight against HIV/AIDS is one that defers to the needs and goals of the local community. We recognize that local non profit organizations know what is valuable and appropriate for their own community in HIV/AIDS awareness education and care, and we're committed to providing volunteer opportunities that help them accomplish their own objectives. Philanthropic opportunities on a Red Ribbon Adventures trip can vary from visiting a local AIDS awareness foundation for one day to discovering how different countries educate the gay community, or how economically challenged groups deal with HIV/AIDS care. Other adventures include volunteering for up to a week during your trip at an AIDS hospice or orphanage. The volunteer opportunities are mutually inspiring, and participants can make a significant difference by supporting and contributing valuable time. You will learn what challenges local HIV/AIDS non-profit organizations, you will understand how your volunteer work and your mere presence can bring joy to those who need it.

Who

We are a division of Planet One Travel - a full service destination management agency in Houston, Texas. The inspiration for Red Ribbon Adventures came when Sash Timothy Carl, the director and founder, viewed the Oprah Winfrey Christmas Kindness special in 2003, when she and her staff traveled to South Africa to volunteer and to share many needed smiles, hugs and support to a small number of orphans affected by HIV/AIDS in rural South Africa. From Sash's own volunteer travel experience with HIV/AIDS work in Brazil, Romania, Mexico and Malaysia and also from his career as an international cultural tour guide in Europe and East Asia, he sensed the need to develop a way for people to travel and give back to the world joining with local organizations in the global HIV/AIDS pandemic while also giving participants cultural experiences and adventures that they would not necessarily be able to do on their own in the destinations they visit.

In 2005 Red Ribbon Adventures teamed up with Antonio Salman-Alonso and his staff at Planet One Travel, and it has been organizing individual trips for people abroad and organizing volunteer opportunities to premium destinations. Based on a tremendous response from many participants, the plan for Red Ribbon Adventures group travel was born.

Where

Red Ribbon Adventures destinations for starting in November 2007 to June 2008 include:

Istanbul, Turkey - Ghana, West Africa - Costa Rica - Quito, Ecuador - India - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Thailand - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Kenya, East Africa

Future destinations in the works for July 2008 onwards include:

South Africa - Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta - Tokyo, Japan - Tanzania, East Africa - Belize, Central America - Buenos Aires, Argentina

Why

HIV/AIDS has affected the world like no other disease in modern times. In most industrialized nations, AIDS is no longer considered a death sentence, and it is currently considered a manageable condition through improved treatment and education. This simply is not so in the rest of the world! In most countries, particularly in developing nations, the acceptance, treatment and education of HIV/AIDS is 10 to 15 years behind North America and Europe. Cultural stigmas still prevail in even some of the most modern nations in our world.

The red ribbon became an international symbol of AIDS awareness during the early 1990s. The global symbol of HIV/AIDS was the brainchild of a group of talented American artists in New York who were desperate to raise awareness and support for people living with HVI/AIDS in their community; this idea became prominent at the 1991 Tony Awards. Years later, the red ribbon still exists to unite people against the global pandemic. Hence, our name reflects this ideology as Red Ribbon Adventures.

Wow

When you visit the Taj Mahal in India, safari in East Africa, the Hippodrome in Istanbul, the Christ Statue in Rio de Janeiro or the Poas Volcano in Costa Rica, the first word that usually comes to mind is "WOW"! All Red Ribbon Adventures trips include an incredible amount of amazing sightseeing and cultural experiences that are designed by the local travel operators whom we work with in each destination. You'll have experiences and memories that will last a lifetime on a Red Ribbon Adventures trip.

Adventures that will not only touch your senses, but your soul as well!

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