Dreamglade Relief Fund

**DREAMGLADE RELIEF FUND UPDATE**

To all of our friends and family out there.

Once again, I am in the position where I am in need of some assistance.

It is something that I was really hoping to avoid but, due to my present circumstances, I have to reach out to you all just one more time.

The centre has been closed for close to 8 months now, still without any income and still with a lot of bills to pay… Fortunately though, we have a whole bunch of guests eagerly waiting to come out whenever we are given the green light to kick start things back into action.

For every single booking that was cancelled due to the Covid situation, we promised to hold their deposit for a future booking and thankfully the majority of the people that made reservations with us have been very understanding and extremely patient and we expect to ROAR back into action just as soon as the situation improves***

I was really hoping that we would be able to open up again in September/October but due to the very slow progress of international flights starting up again I finally made the decision to wait until the new year, our first retreat month of 2021 starting on the 11^th of January.

I have seen that a couple of brave centres here in Peru are attempting to open up this month or the next but, after keeping a close eye on how things are developing in other countries, I felt that it was safer and wiser to wait a few more months in the hope that things will calm down a bit and international travel will be more feasible and hassle free.

The last thing I wanted was a bunch of our travelling guests ‘stranded’ in various different airports around the world, due to travel delays/restrictions or flight cancellations without being able to make it here in time for their retreat. My gut feeling was that it was just going to be far too stressful for all concerned…

Due to the incredible generosity of all of you 5 months ago (and still up to the present day) we have been able to ride out this storm up until now.

Once again,

THANK YOU SO MUCH, your extraordinary support was a real lifesaver***

But unfortunately the funds are running really low again, especially as October was a difficult month with some big, unexpected bills that had to be paid (broken down truck, broken washing machine, large tax bill, blah, blah, blah…) and unfortunately we also discovered that a large number of support posts under the maloka and the main house were completely rotten and had to be replaced immediately. (over half of the maloka supports were in seriously bad shape)

With the extra man power required to carefully replace each post (over 30 of them) and the extra construction materials required to build the replacement reinforced cement footings, it has been a very expensive, month-long project and has really made a dent in my cash reserves.

The Amazon rainforest is a really unforgiving environment and wooden structures deteriorate rapidly if they are not properly maintained. I decided to make an appraisal of the centre last weekend. Strolling around, I could see very clearly that the whole place has seriously fallen into disrepair…. Because of the shorter working hours of my staff for most of this year and the fact that I have been trying to keep the running costs as low as possible, a big bunch of routine maintenance work has been neglected and the whole place is looking quite dishevelled...

In order to get things back up to our normal standards and ready for our first guests in 2021 it will very soon be time for ‘all hands on deck’ because, realistically, I have to bring in the whole crew for a solid 4 weeks of work before we re-open in order to get everything ‘ship shape’…. (my yachting past coming through a bit there !!) This will put my costs up by a large margin and I’m really not sure that I have enough to stretch it….

Last but not least, I would really love to be able to give ALL of my crew (including the curanderos) a bonus for Christmas, as it is something I have done faithfully since the first day we opened.

It has been a difficult year for all of them, with shorter hours and lower pay and, of course, zero ‘tips’ from the guests so I would love to be able to give them all a little extra something so that they and their families can at least have a nice Christmas after such a challenging year :-)

I want to state once more that I am well aware that many of you are going through your own financial difficulties during these troubling times and if that is your situation, please take care of yourselves first***

If, however, you are in the fortunate position of still receiving regular income and you would like to support us with a donation, large or small, it would be enormously appreciated, both by myself and the Dreamglade family and it will allow us to confidently move forward into the new year.

I have restarted the original fundraiser from scratch and the link is here**

On a side note, I apologise if I have been a bit ‘absent’ from the Dreamglade page for the last few months. I think we can all agree that this has been one crazy year and I have to admit that I have struggled with some ‘survival issues’ on occasion, some big fears coming up such as…. Will we ever be able to open the centre again ? Will I lose it all ? Will I be able to support my family ??

But I also have to admit that in some ways it has really has been a blessing, to finally have a long break after working so hard for so many years. It’s been a real gift to me to be able to spend a lot of time working on my own ‘stuff’ and I see clearly that I have learnt an awful lot about myself these last 8 months and I’ve done a lot of long-overdue clearing.

For the most part, I have been trying to stay positive and grounded, spending as much time as possible chewing my coca leaves, drumming, chanting and meditating and it definitely took my attention away from the ‘Dreamglade machine’ and was directed ‘inwards’ for my own healing and growth.

I truly hope that next year will be full of blessings and that we will get to witness an avalanche of more profound personal healings out in the jungle and that we can keep shining some light into this troubled world.

Lots of Love and a big hug to you all xxx

Stace-

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ORIGINAL FUNDRAISER

Due to the Covid crisis, Dreamglade has had to cancel all of its retreats until the situation changes and international flights are opened up once again. Unfortunately, we still do not know for sure when that will be and in the meantime, I am personally having to cover all of my staff’s wages from my own savings and currently there are 9 of them that I am having to support each week without any financial assistance from the Peruvian government.

Obviously, I also have to pay my own rent and bills here in Iquitos, as well as support my own family and after two and a half months of no income I am starting to get very concerned about how long I can keep this up for, especially as I have recently spoken to Raul, Lidia and Adelaide who are all in Pucallpa and who are now also asking me for financial assistance as they have reached the point where they no longer have money to buy food.
I have often observed that many of my guests have an issue with 'asking for help' and I am now observing that very same issue quite clearly in myself, despite various friends urging me, for quite some time now, to reach out for assistance in this precarious situation.
Throughout my life, I have always prided myself on being very self-sufficient and financially independent but right now, I have to accept that I could really do with a helping hand so that myself and all of the Dreamglade crew may survive the following few months. God willing, we will be ready and in great shape to continue the work that we do so well, when we are able to open our doors to the public once again, hopefully later in the year.
Drew (our retreat facilitator) and Jess (our yoga teacher) are both able to ride out the storm for the moment with their savings and alternative income but all of my Peruvian staff, who all have large families to support, are in dire need of assistance (all 12 of them) and I am beginning to feel really concerned that this is becoming too much of a responsibility for me to bear all by myself.
It has taken me several years to find the perfect “Dream team” and they are a big part of the reason why we are one of the most successful healing centres out there and I can not, will not, abandon them now in their greatest time of need.
Dreamglade has never been about the 'Money' (as I'm sure many of you have observed) and that is why we have always kept the prices as low as possible and the group sizes to a minimum to ensure that every guest receives an unsurpassed level of personal care during their stay with us.
But right now, it is money that is needed to help us through this crisis and if you are in a position to help us a little with any kind of donation, large or small, I will make sure that it is distributed fairly amongst all of my Peruvian workers, including the curanderos, so that they and their families remain safe during these very difficult times.
From the bottom of my heart,
Thank you xxx

Stace

www.dreamglade.com