Dear friends, (Edited 6/19/2026 now that I have returned from Ecuador)

Some of you know the place. You may have read about it, seen the photos, or heard me tell the story of how a wild hillside on Ecuador's Manabí coast became a home — how it was cleared and planted and built by hand into something real.

You may have read about it in my memoir, The Shaman's Wife.

Quinta Oasis sits on 4,200 square meters above Pikeros Beach in the village of Rio Chico, Salango, overlooking the Pacific. I poured years of my life into that land — laying brick walls, planting fruit trees, creating guest houses and gardens from nothing. It was not a project. It was a dream becoming real. The property is now a fully built retreat compound with ocean-view guesthouses, a pool, a yoga pavilion, and gardens heavy with avocado, papaya, and maracuyá.

I left Ecuador. I built a new life in Portugal. But I never abandoned that property, and I have never stopped being its rightful owner.

Now it is at risk.

My former husband's brother has been deliberately working to undermine my ownership. While here I discovered that his attempts to take over the property have been ongoing for years, even when I lived here! This has become a fight I can no longer wage from a distance. I went back, in person, to protect what I worked so hard for.

Now that I have arrived on the property the land is speaking to me. I once again envision what it might be - the sanctuary I always meant it to be. As its steward it is left to me to rehabilitate it to its potential.

I am not asking for help lightly - I'm a private person and asking for support does not come easy. Many of you reading this know that I am the kind of person who shows up — who listens at odd hours, who takes the call, who holds space when things are hard, who offers what she has without keeping score. I have spent my life pouring into others. This time, I am the one who needs to be held up.

What it was before:

What it is now, through destruction and negligence:

I just spent three weeks in Ecuador to secure the property. As of June 22, the squatters have not left. There is a judicial hearing on June 26 that I am hopeful will deny their claim and I can proceed with the much needed maintenance and repairs, with Pablo, a reliable caretaker, and complete the steps necessary to rehabilitate the property.

My trip cost $8000 of what has been raised between travel, lodging, transportation, meals, legal fees, paying Pablo and supplies. We have estimated the cost of rehabilitating the property within three to four months at between $10k-$15K, enough so I can rent the casitas to pay for ongoing maintenance and structural repairs, for Pablo and for my return to get things started.

Here is what the funds will cover: (revised now that I've seen the property and gotten estimates to recover it).

Total need: $15,000 — to rehabilitate the property in three to four months.

Every dollar goes directly toward securing the property and ensuring it is properly cared for. The longer I stay here and work with the local people, the more a new vision for the property arises. For those who donate, you'll be seeing my posts of the ongoing progress and evolution of a new vision.

This is NOT about real estate. This is about a woman protecting the work of her own hands. About refusing to let something built with love and labor be taken through sabotage and silence. Perhaps even, reconciling a final chapter of a lost dream and beginning a new dream that is now possible as I listen to the land speak and align with what the earth is telling me to do.

If you have ever been moved by my writing, my words, my presence in your life or if you believe that we are stewards of earth's sacred spaces — this is one meaningful way to return that energy. And if you cannot give, sharing this campaign is a gift in itself.

Thank you — from the cliffs of the Algarve to the coast of Manabí, and every threshold in between.

With gratitude,

Alicia M. Rodriguez

The history of what it was on Instagram: Quinta Oasis in Ecuador Instagram

For private updates, (Eduardo's family is stalking me online) please register here: PRIVATE UPDATES

It's condition now - everything is dying or dead.

My dear Bella recognized me immediately. Broke my heart .