Bolivian River Reading

Since 2003, brothers Jim and Christopher Brady have been leading the annual El Puente summer adventure for students of Santa Barbara Middle School down to the Bolivian Amazon, where they walk through the wilds to raise money to support the Fundación Salud Río Beni Clínica (Rio Beni Health Clinic) in memory of their late friend Dr. Lou Netzer.

Here’s this year’s team standing in the middle of Rio Yariapo and reading The Indy, just a few seconds after emerging from an all-day trek through the rainforest. “We all hiked through the misty rainforest, leading us to Yariapo camp,” said student Emalani Artiss (pictured second from right). “The people of this community have been so open with our group, not only letting us stay in their sacred place, but making us feel at home.”

From left to right are Sydney Reigert, Sophia Phillips, Marandah Field-Eliot, Christina Tebbe, Lucia Barbera, Ati Namvar, Artiss, and Heather Harkness, holding the paper.