(PORTLAND, ORE. - Dec. 13, 2007) This year, Drs. David and Charity Thoman will mark December 25 in a much different way—volunteering in a country where children never receive a Christmas gift because they are too poor.

The two medical doctors from Santa Barbara depart this Thursday for Niger to train African surgeons in updated surgical techniques and provide patient care. The couple is volunteering with Medical Teams International, a relief agency that sends volunteers to help people affected by disaster and poverty. David is a surgeon and Charity is an Internal Medicine resident in Santa Barbara.

This is Charity's second trip with Medical Teams International. In 2005 she served in Gabon, teaching and conducting surgeries at a local hospital. This is David's first trip.

"It says a lot about the Thomans that they're willing to travel half way around the world to help people during Christmas," says Bas Vanderzalm, president of Medical Teams International. "We're grateful for their sacrifice. The need is immense in Niger—for doctors, for medicines, for hospitals and clinics. David and Charity are making a lasting difference in a country that is desperate for help."

The United Nations ranks Niger last among 177 countries for its life expectancy, education, literacy and standard of living.

The couple will carry more than $100,000 in medical supplies and medicines, including sutures, surgical textbooks and antibiotics. Many of the donations have been provided by Ethicon, Auto-Suture and Direct Relief International, along with $44,000 in supplies from International Orthodox Christian Charities.

Medical Teams International has been working in Niger since 2004, collaborating with Nigerien aid partners to send medical volunteers to Galmi Hospital, a facility serving a desperately poor, rural population of nearly 1 million people.

Medical Teams International is a non-profit humanitarian relief and development organization that exists to demonstrate the love of Christ to people affected by disaster, conflict and poverty around the world. In its 28-year history, the agency has deployed more the 1,650 volunteer teams and shipped more than $1 billion in antibiotics, surgical kits and lifesaving medicines to care for 35 million people in 100 countries.