UNLEARNING RETREAT:
summer 2025
We are thrilled to announce the launch of our Unlearning Retreats
Summer 2025.
Retreat 1: May 17 - 31, 2025
Retreat 2: August 2 - 16, 2025
These retreats will bring together a dynamic cohort of individuals to explore, study, and practice Unlearning alongside our community partners in the Highlands and Amazon of Ecuador.
DESCRIPTION
What to Expect:
Our Unlearning Retreats are crafted in partnership with local Indigenous communities, creating spaces where we all unlearn and grow together. These retreats will help participants develop the knowledge and skills necessary to transform their work as educators, activists, and community-builders.
Our focus extends beyond merely unlearning dominant narratives; we will also engage in reimagining new stories and integrating diverse ways of knowing and being into our work and personal growth.
Throughout the retreat, our daily practices will emphasize radical listening, radical empathy, and radical imagination. By the end of the experience, each participant will feel inspired and equipped to apply their newfound insights to transform their institutions, redesign their teaching, and repurpose their activism.
Highlights of the Retreat:
-
Live and Learn with Indigenous Communities: Engage in a creative and critical dialogue with the Kichwa community of Mushullakta in the Amazon and the Kitu Kara community of Pintag in the Andes.
-
Engaging Workshops: Participate in workshops led by community educators, ancestral knowledge-holders, and Pachaysana faculty.
-
Unique Visits: Explore tropical rainforests, Andean volcanoes, Indigenous craft markets, the capital city of Quito, hot spring baths, and the Toxic Tour—a guided visit to sites affected by oil and mining extraction.
-
Research and Volunteer Opportunities (optional): Extend your stay to volunteer and/or research with our numerous partner communities.
WHO IS THIS RETREAT FOR?
University Faculty and Staff
Educators: Professors, lecturers, and graduate students looking to integrate new perspectives and innovative teaching methods into their curriculum.
Administrators: College administrators and staff involved in international progams, student affairs, and diversity & inclusion, seeking to enhance their understanding of global issues and diverse ways of knowing & being, or who want to develop greater cultural competencies and skills for working with activist students.
Activists and Community Organizers
Non-Profit Leaders: Individuals working in non-profit organizations focused on social justice, environmental sustainability, and community development who want to deepen their impact and learn from Indigenous practices.
Grassroots Activists: Community organizers and activists eager to challenge dominant narratives and incorporate diverse ways of knowing into their advocacy work.
Professionals and Lifelong Learners
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Professionals: Those involved in CSR initiatives who aim to bring more ethical and sustainable practices to their organizations.
Lifelong Learners: Individuals committed to personal growth, social justice, and environmental sustainability, looking for immersive learning experiences that challenge their perspectives and inspire change.
Change-Makers: Anyone passionate about creating positive change in their communities, institutions, and personal lives, and who values the importance of unlearning to reimagine a more just and inclusive future.
No matter your background, this retreat is ideal for those who are open-minded, ready to engage deeply with challenging topics, and committed to applying what they learn to foster transformation in their professional and personal lives.
DETAILED ITINERARY
Day 1-3: Quito and its surrounding areas
Arrive to Quito, Ecuador, settle into accommodations, and participate in orientation sessions with Pachaysana faculty, community educators and fellow participants. Visits to Quito's historical center and the Middle of the World.
Cultural visits: colonial churches, art and anthroplogy museums and sacred sites.
Daily themes: "The colonianal mask of coloniality,""Art & coloniality/modernity," and "Middle-of-the-World-ing"
Day 4-7: Workshops and Community Engagement in the Highlands
Engage in workshops with community educators and knowledge-holders in the ancestral community of Pintag.
We will work closely with the Pintag Amaru collective, participating in experiential workshops that inspire us to build community via a critical intercultural framework.
Activities: Narrative-based intercultural workshops, volunteering in community gardens & reforestation projects
Cultural visits: A tour to understand the impact of local rock mines on the community's waterways, and a visit to the sacred volcano of Antisana.
Daily themes: "Land-based knowledge," "Restoring lands / restorying identities," "Listening to the mountains," "Radical listening."
Day 8-9: Travel to the Amazon and the Toxic Tour
Travel to the city of El Coca by plane for the Toxic Tour. After a short 30-minute flight to Coca, we take time to process and transtion, with an optional museum visit and roundtable discussion about natural resource extraction in the Amazon. The next day is our all-day toxic tour, which is critical for understanding the relationship between modernity and natural resource extraction. The day concludes with a vision of hope and transformation by visiting one family's permaculture farm surrounded by the oil industry.
Activities: Reflection sessions, Toxic Tour
Cultural visits: Optional visits to anthropology museum and traditional foods market. Visit to permaculture farm.
Daily themes: "From Andes to Amazon," and "Extractivism: a way of knowing & being"
Day 10-12: Exploration and Learning in the Amazon
We then travel to the Kichwa community of Mushullakta where we immerse ourselves in a new vision for our global society. Working with Mushullakta's ecosystem restoration association called House of the Puma, we connect with ancestral traditions and wisdom by walking in the forest, observing (and volunteering on) family farms, working with the community's Forest School program and engaging in story-based workshops with local educators and knowledge holders.
Activities: Arts-based intercultural workshops, visit to local farms, volunteering in food forests or the local ancestral school, early morning tea ceremony, and forest walks
Cultural visits: Ancestral farms, sacred sites, river and waterfall hikes.
Daily themes: "Indigenous epistemologies," "Food Forests as resistance and resilience," "Ancestral & relational ways of knowing," and "Radical imagining."
Day 14-15: Reflection & Reimagination (and the journey home)
We journey back to Quito with a stop in the hot springs of Papallacta where we engage in guided reflection activities and prepare for our trip back home.
Activities: Bus ride up the Andes Mountains, relaxing in thermal baths, final reflective learning workshops
Cultural visits: Sacred waterfall, thermal baths.
Daily themes: "Unlearning & weaving" and "Unlearning & worlding"
Flexible Participation
While we highly recommend that participants come for the full two weeks, we do offer a one week (Highlands-only) version. For those interested in the one-week version, please refer to Days 1 through 7 above.
Extended Time with Pachaysana and Community Partners: For those interested in a deeper immersion, we offer opportunities to extend your time in Ecuador with our community partners and the Pachaysana team. You may choose to continue your retreat experience, living and learning in community, while engaging in participatory research alongside local partners or volunteering in one of many ongoing projects. Examples of volunteer opportunities include tutoring at the Forest School, contributing to ecosystem restoration efforts, developing educational materials for our summer camps, and more.
ACCOMMODATIONS AND MEALS LODGING
Lodging: Comfortable and culturally enriching accommodations are provided with experienced host families in the communities and independently owned hotels in Quito, Coca and Papallacta.
Meals: Healthy, locally-sourced meals are provided by host families and trusted restaurants, with options for dietary preferences and restrictions (vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc). All meals and some snacks are included in the cost. Alcoholic beverages are not included.
A special part of our experience will be learning about traditional cooking methods and local cuisine.
HEALTh, SAFETY & Connectivity
Pachaysana is experienced in managing health and safety situations. We have contingency plans for all of our locations, on-call English-speaking doctors available 24 hours, and follow U.S. State Department travel advisories. Our host communities are extremely safe locations, and all our local educators, coordinators and host families have been trained in health and safety protocols. Please inquire for more details about our contingency plans or if you have questions or concerns related to health and safety.
Emergency Contacts: Pachaysana's local support staff is onsite and available 24/7. We will also provide a list of other useful contacts upon arrival to Ecuador.
Internet and Phone: All of our program sites, including the host communities, have high-speed internet, and most have celular service. We recommend that participants download a free messaging/calling service like WhatsApp to stay in contact with home and family.
COSTS AND FUNDING
Cost Breakdown:
$3,640 for the full 2 week retreat.
$2,180 for the one-week (Highlands-only) version.
Costs include all accommodations (shared room*), three meals per day, regular workshops, in-country transportation, all entrance fees, community educator fund, community project fund and administration fees. It does not include international airfare and personal expenses.
*Individual rooms can be provided on most evenings for an additional cost.
Note: For most travelers, including U.S. citizens, there are no visa costs to visit Ecuador. Please inquire if you are unsure whether or not you require a visa.
APPLICATION PROCESS
How to Register:
Please fill in this form to register.
Registration Deadline: March 15, 2025.
We encourage you to register as early as possible. We accept registrations on a rolling basis and spaces are limited.
Deposits: We will ask for a $250 non-refundable deposit 2 weeks after you have registered to guarantee your spot in the retreat.
Contact Information: Daniel Bryan, Director of Education and Outreach, daniel@pachaysana.org, +593-98-558-7581.
WHAT DO PREVIOUS PARTICIPANTS THINK OF THE RETREATS?
Josep Alba-Salas, Chair, Spanish Department, College of the Holy Cross
"My colleagues and I found the Unlearning workshops to be extremely relevant not only to our department’s continued efforts to decolonize the curriculum and explore non-canonical epistemologies, but also to our institution’s commitment to anti-racism and social justice”
Dr. Emily Gorlewski, Director, Study Abroad, Fries Center for Global Studies, Wesleyan University
"Unlearning workshops use the principles of embodiment and storytelling to create powerful experiences of affective learning”
Shoshanna Sumka, Executive Director, ISEEN, Independent Schools Experiential Education Network
"Unlearning workshops incorporate movement, poetry, and indigenous cosmology that challenge and revolutionize assumptions about the very nature of education. Their methodology follows the experiential learning cycle of direct experience, reflection, analysis and experimentation and embraces the notion of storytelling as an essential part of human history”
Ash Trebisacci, Assistant Director of Study Abroad, Brandeis University
“In a role that is so focused on the intellectual and so often disconnected from the body, it was hugely impactful for me to become more grounded in my body throughout the workshop, and to truly understand the impact that movement and physicality can have in change efforts. The workshops inspired me to help my students find spaces where they, too, can reconnect with themselves and unlearn in order to build their capacity for activism”
Michelle Wibbelsman, Associate Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, The Ohio State University
"Unlearning workshops invigorated our classroom methodologies in immediate and powerful ways, exposed faculty and students to alternative pedagogies, and provoked meaningful reflections and dialogue that engage with broader issues of racial injustice, diversity and inclusion.”
Jolynn Pasqualucci, Graduate Student, Global Education & TESOL, Providence College
“People came together to share their personal truths, their stories, and their testimonies in a safe space, and from that grow in spirit and as people. We were encouraged to embrace our culture, no matter where we are from and our history. The work creates a common ground to be your authentic self. It felt like my soul was set free and many of us left the experience in tears, but happy tears.”