The Sacha Wasi are a beautiful Kichwa people indigenous to the Ecuadorian rainforest. They have a rich culture with deep ties to the plants and living beings of the area. Their relationship working with visionary plant medicines such as Ayahuasca and San Pedro goes back centuries, passed down through the lineage of their ancestors.

The Sacha Wasi have been faced with dire circumstances as a revered and important figure of their community has recently and unexpectedly passed away. Many of you may know Dr. Scott Irwin. He dedicated the remainder of his life by moving to Sacha Wasi and living with the tribe for the past four years, while helping them establish a successful plant medicine retreat that brought in steady guests from around the world to experience the healing essence of the tribe and the medicines they work with.

Through these retreats, the Sacha Wasi were able to generate funds and resources as a means to help protect their ancient traditions and society from the toxic influence of modernization, which has been slowly and steadily driving a wedge between the adults and youth of the tribe and their culture.

With Dr. Scott’s passing, the Sacha Wasi have been in disarray, struggling to maintain the retreats and are slowly losing the agency they once had in protecting their culture from the influence and allure of modernization. As our world gets more heavily invested in technology and futuristic endeavors, a slow snuffing out of our ancient cultures and societies is occurring, becoming relics of the past. These indigenous cultures are so deeply interconnected with the living nature of our planet, that as they fade, a part of us fades as well, and with it the interconnectedness we all share with Pachamama. By losing these precious cultures, we are, in turn, losing a precious part of ourselves.

Right now, there are a group of people helping the Sacha Wasi to re-establish their retreats, but the process is slow and arduous. There are many variables being tended to such as: website design, maintaining an online presence through social media and retreat search platforms like Retreat Guru, payments of monthly bills such as marketing memberships, WiFi, electricity, and hot water to accommodate guests, infrastructure repairs, and supporting guests through virtual prep and integration coaching. These are some of the elements currently being addressed to maintain the foundational stability of the retreats. However, with Dr. Scott’s passing, the number of guests attending the Sacha Wasi retreats has declined exponentially, making it more and more difficult to stay on top of monthly expenses.

The tribe needs a steady flow of guests to maintain the payment of amenities such as electricity, WiFi, and hot water to accommodate basic comforts as a means to help stay attractive amongst the thousands of other retreats out there. They need a steady flow of guests to help fund their ability to maintain these basic amenities, and they need the amenities to bring in the guests. As this reciprocal dynamic is being tended to, we are asking for any kind of monetary support you can offer to help see us through this difficult period.

The funds generated will go directly towards monthly expenses such as electricity, hot water, WiFi, and marketing (advertisements and memberships). Also, these funds will go towards the cost of materials to upkeep the casitas and infrastructure repairs that facilitate the guests' living quarters.

If you have been positively affected by the support of Dr. Scott Irwin, if you have experienced deep healing from the Sacha Wasi, or from any plant medicine experience, this is an incredible opportunity to pay it forward and be a positive force in supporting an indigenous community, helping them to protect their culture and way of life. Anything and everything helps