Rio Esperanza

“Two weeks ago I could never have imagined this experience, it was out of my realm of possibilities. Too poor, too numb, and too caught up in the cyclical everyday duties of staying alive and healthy.”
David, Desolation/Gray Canyon, 2000

David lives with AIDS. He spends his days in a never ending cycle of drug schedules, doctor visits, and the daily business of surviving with a terminal illness; “a train with no place to go but follow the tracks to the final destination.” His trip through Desolation and Gray Canyons on the Green River changed his outlook, changed his mental status, and changed his life.

The Challenge Group Inc. is dedicated to providing meaningful and powerful experiences as a catalyst for self-discovery, therapeutic learning and hope. Our 3 – 10 day wilderness programs create an opportunity for growth for people living with AIDS, youth at risk people with disabilities and other specific populations.

Our commitment to providing programs is strengthened by the power of the stories that participants have to tell:

“Someone once told me to remember ‘gratefulness leads to happiness’ and not the other way around. So, what am I grateful for? When it comes to this past week, I find myself I find my mind very busy compiling a very, very, very long list.” “Cleansing the body and soul… more majestic views. There is a clarity in the area surrounding the clear water creek, or maybe my vision and mind are just getting clearer the longer I am out here.”

“HIV is such an unraveller – it fragments and pulls apart. Trips and groups like this are my idea of the antidote. When you witness beauty and friendship and power like this, it makes loving life possible again.”

We know this work is having an impact when participants express themselves so freely and powerfully.

The Challenge Group is dedicated to the enrichment and empowerment of people in need; to make a difference in the emotional, physical and spiritual lives of the people we come into contact with; to live by the motto of The Challenge Group, Opening minds, Touching Hearts, Enlarging Worlds. And in some cases, saving lives.

Rio Esperanza is a unique therapeutic wilderness program providing education, support and hope for people living with HIV/AIDS, their family and loved ones, and high-risk, underserved populations. Our mission is twofold: to encourage unqualified personal understanding of self worth, self-esteem and self-safety and to provide

To foster increased self-esteem, confidence and self-image.

To promote higher levels of self-care and personal responsibility

To foster an understanding of actions and consequences and the impact of decision making processes

To create a safe environment to support education and explore personal and cultural issues surrounding HIV/AIDSOur program supports participants internal strengths and help to heal the weaknesses in a cognitive/emotional combination. Rio Esperanza is about helping individuals manifest long-term, lasting change in themselves; helping individuals learn to value themselves enough to take care of themselves and the people they love.

Rio Esperanza offers therapeutic rafting trips as a catalyst for education, learning and hope. The impact of the river and the outdoors, paired with our skilled staff, creates an opportunity for growth unparalleled in traditional settings. In addition, the wilderness offers a powerful metaphor for recognizing choice and consequences. If a tent is put up incorrectly, it leaks in the rain, if a dry bag is not closed properly, the gear inside of it gets wet. All are decisions made with immediate consequences that translate to larger issues.

Rio Esperanza is a program of hope for all people living with AIDS/HIV. It encourages individuals and families to recognize that a diagnosis of HIV is a challenge that can be addressed with strength and beauty; that the wilderness is a safe, secure place to explore themselves; to find the river is a place of peace and discovery where magic can happen.