A huge reason we offer retreats in our home of Nicaragua is to share the community that we have grown to know and love with our guests in an authentic way that you wouldn't get to experience otherwise.
On many beach vacations, we only skim the surface of the places we visit. We lay on the beaches and get served by the locals but leave without ever really knowing the culture or the people who make up the heart of the place.
We wanted to offer something different with our Papaya Wellness Retreats. Offer real glimpses into the community, people and ways of life in Nicaragua. We wanted to create a platform to help our guests form relationships across cultures.
In the passed we have included many different community activities into our retreat weeks; Cultural exchange days, beach clean ups, surf lessons, yoga classes in the school, cooking classes in the homes of local women and an ongoing business project with Lucia, a local rock star, who makes reusable beach/shopping bags that we distribute on our retreats.
This year we are excited to announce a new activity during our Nicaraguan retreats that we are very passionate about! Papaya Wellness retreat guests will be volunteering and taking part in Gigante's Girls Surf Club with Project Wave of Optimism. Here are some words from Project Woo on their Girls Surf Club initiative:
"The Girls Surf Club is a chance for young women in the Gigante community to enhance their surfing and swimming skills while becoming more comfortable with the ocean. The club meets once a week during the school year and has been quite a success!
In order to address gossiping and inclusion issues that are often present in groups of young girls, Lara, Leela and Dra. Mariana recently conducted a team-building workshop. A group of approximately 10 young women who are members of the English Activity and Girls Surf Clubs participated in the workshop activities, which we aimed at opening up discussions on feelings and finding productive solutions to issues such as gossiping, feeling left out or not liking another member of the group. With the help of this workshop and additional discussions during club meetings, the young women are improving their communication and team-building skills, while having fun and learning English!"
Check out this video highlighting the Girls Surf Camp with Project Woo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POAcBIKicho
