Pink Caravan Welcome Note for Riders
Dear Riders,
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all sincerely for joining in with the Pink Caravan Ride 2017. This year’s edition of the activity is a particularly resonant one, as it is in its seventh year and travelling across the seven emirates that make up the UAE. Naturally,the forthcoming edition of the Pink Caravan Ride under the theme‘7 Years.. for 7 Emirates.’
Many of you have ridden with us before on our previous Pink Caravan Rides and we are delighted to welcome you back again. We also see a lot of new faces this year and we extend our deepest gratitude to you as well for taking time to be a part of this important initiative that raises awareness of the need for the early detection of breast cancer.
For those who are indeed new to the Pink Caravan Ride, we would like to explain why you as riders are fundamental to our initiative. The Pink Caravan Ride is a Sharjah-based initiative that tours across the UAE as a travelling breast cancer awareness roadshow, offering free medical breast cancer check-ups and mammogram scans for men and women of all ages and all nationalities along the route.
There is no better way to bring much needed attention to the activity than to have supporters on horseback accompanying our mobile mammogram medical clinic and medical professionals, with horse riding and equestrianism an essential part of the cultural fabric of the UAE. Horses are synonymous with the Arabian way of life and having horse riders as a component of the Pink Caravan Ride has been one of its most important elements since it first travelled around the UAE in 2011. In the six years since then, more than 400 riders and 650 volunteers have taken part in the Pink Caravan Ride.
In addition to representing the culture and heritage of the UAE, horses symbolise strength, determination and resilience - exactly the qualities needed in the fight against breast cancer. With the Pink Caravan riders bedecked in special eye-catching pink livery, our train attracts a huge degree of attention from the public as we travel around the seven emirates, meaning that our important message reaches as wide an audience as possible on our journey. The seemingly never-ending line of horses and their riders all in pink states unequivocally ‘together we will beat breast cancer.’
Just to enlighten you with some statistics, since its inception the Pink Caravan Ride has travelled more than 1,440 km across the seven emirates. Pink Caravan’s total of 455 medical clinics has offered early breast cancer detection screenings for 41,391 people, including 8,526 men. It has conducted 11,736 mammograms and 1,802 ultrasounds and last yearenabled 1,119 UAE nationals and 3,940 residents, male and female, to receive free breast examinations and medical consultations.
Once again, thank you for your commitment to supporting ‘7 Years.. for 7 Emirates.’ As horse-riders taking part in the initiative you are an integral component of the ride. You can also donate contributions to the campaign directly should you want, or contribute to fundraising through personal sponsorship, with details to be found at:
Enjoy the ride!