2022--Rurranabaque, Bolivia

In November of 2022, Dr. Emde traveled with his wife and 2 youngest daughters to serve at an Seventh-day Adventist Christian orphanage/foster day school called Familia Feliz (Happy Family) in the country of Bolivia.  They provided free vision care and glasses to the students and staff.

Dr. Emde's oldest daughter, Katie-Jane, is serving as an house parent and teacher's assistant at Familia Feliz.  She is a volunteer student missionary from Southern Adventist University where she is currently in her sophomore year as a biology/pre-med/optometry major with a minor in Biblical Old Testament Archeology.

Dr. Emde and his family were able to help provide basic glasses and sunglasses to 62 people.  He and his family also helped with providing a VBS--Vacation Bible School and some maintenance around the school while they were there.  As hot as it was, they loved waking up hearing the gurgling of the Oropendolas and other birds, but they never quite got used to sharing their living quarters and bedrooms with the tarantulas.  They were happy to sleep within their mosquito netting each night!

Familia Feliz is located in the Amazon rainforests of Bolivia near the town of Rurrenabaque, on the edge of the Mididi National Park.  However, The small town is famous for Pampas tours which explore the waterways of the tropical wetlands of the rainforests by small thin boats.  Dr. Emde and his family took one day to do a Pampas tour and were amazed to see all the wildlife  such as pink dolphins, ostrich, coati, thousands of caimen and turtles, alligators, capybaras, yellow monkeys, and even an anaconda!