HERMITAGE
supporting
OUR LOCAL VILLAGE
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As one of the only foreigner-run businesses in the Mayan village of San Pablo, we find it so important to offer support to our local neighbours, by offering sponsorship to children to go to school, and food packages to families in need.
2020 was a difficult time for most countries in the world as we battled with covid-19 and the disruptions that it caused to our lives. In Guatemala, we had a six month Lockdown, which meant that families in our village were not able to go out of their homes to collect firewood and fresh food, and that there was no work (and no income) for six months.
‘ Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in quiet minds is adequate perception of the world.’
– Hans Margolius
mayan village
SAN PABLO
In our small village where most people live day to day, this was a very difficult time as families struggled just to feed themselves.
The Hermitage began fundraising one week after the Lockdown began in March and between March and September 2020, we raised over US $20,000 to help to support the people in San Pablo, our local village. We provided two weeks worth of food for fifty to ninety families per week and also hand sanitizer and firewood (most families cook all their food on an open fire).
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We are so grateful to all our extended Hermitage family and past guests who donated and helped us to put food on the table for over five hundred different families in total in San Pablo. THANK YOU!
The team at The Hermitage meditate regularly before beginning their day, and they understand the gifts of silence and meditation.
Practitioners who retreat at The Hermitage are directly helping to support the people of San Pablo, as a percentage of our profits go directly back to employing more people and aiding the families that we are working with.
The Hermitage also sponsers a child in the village, six year old Dolores, offering support for all of her education and health care until she is twenty years old.
there is always
MORE TO DO
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We also raised money to build the first children´s playground in San Pablo, completed in 2017. It offers a grassy area and local herbs to take home, along with a fun play area made from fully recycled materials to activate the imagination. We also donate gifts to many of the children in town at christmas, with the help of donations of toys or money from around the world. Each year we raise money to donate around two hundred christmas gifts and twenty food baskets to families in need.
Health care and education in Guatemala is not expensive, and several of our retreaters in the past have offered to sponsor a child to go to school for the year, or have offered a donation to help to feed a family for a week. If you would like to find out more about how to support San Pablo or if you would like to make a donation, send us an email, or let us know when booking for your next retreat.
ABOUT THE HERMITAGE
The Hermitage is a family owned retreat center founded by Severin and Emma Geser, who are both commited meditation practitioners and qualified meditation and yoga retreat leaders. They live with their children on the shores of Lake Atitlan and offer their beautiful property up for all those looking for solitude and peace.
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