About Awamayu
Our Story
I feel my feet against the Earth. My eyes hold a soft gaze towards the Apus, the mountain spirits that bless this land. I blow through the kintu in my fingers and I say thank you. Añay.
In 2017, I arrived at the feet of the Andes for the first time. The land, the culture, and the connection I felt was palpable. The Sacred Valley was more than familiar; I was home. For years, I journeyed from the US to Peru, and with each successive trip, I was more deeply woven into life in the Andes. I hiked sacred mountains, bought way too many telas, journeyed with plant medicines, and fell in love with folk herbalism.
Most importantly, these lands have connected me with the most authentic parts of myself. My experiences here in the Valley have helped reconnect to what is most alive within my soul. That, in turn, makes me more capable of serving those around me. The Sacred Valley has held me and served as my training ground for a life rooted in authenticity, harmony, connection, love, and truth.
Awamayu comes from the Quechua words awaq (weaving) and mayu (river). We are a woven river, where many streams come together to weave a fabric of love, harmony, and truth. We arrive here separately, and together, we remember the ancient ways. We remember what it means to love. We remember what it means to serve.
At Awamayu, we are passionate about living in right relationship with the Earth. In our time together, we will integrate Western knowledge with the ancestral traditions of the Andes. We will do our part in giving back to the Peruvian peoples that have nurtured their relationship with this land for millenia. We take each step with Ayni.
Awamayu Family
Awamayu would not exist without the love and dedication that pours from every individual in our tight-knit family. We join together with our Quechua brothers and sisters to weave the vibrant, intercultural tapestry of Awamayu.
Andrea Cerrilla
INTERCULTURAL LIASON & FOUNDER
Andrea is the founder and director of Awamayu. She acts as our intercultural bridge between the western world and the Quechua communities, coordinating programs, partnerships, and community initiatives. An herbalist at heart, Andrea brings her inspiration for plant medicine work, Andean culture, and authentic expression to Awamayu.
Candace Garland
JOURNEY FACILITATOR
Candace is a medicine woman, ecstatic dance dj, and a devotee to Mother Earth. She is trained in Kambo, reiki, and Mayan womb massage, and for the past four years has been based in Peru while also visiting other sacred parts of the world to immerse herself on a healing path through plant medicines - Ayahuasca and Cacao being her main teachers. Candace facilitates plant medicine retreats and holds a deep reverence for the plants and their traditions.
Ariel Szabo
JOURNEY FACILITATOR
Ariel is a midwife of intimacy and connection. Walking people back to their bodies, their hearts, and their desires. Ariel is trained as a sexological bodyworker, somatic sex educator, and psychedelic therapist in service of supporting people in their journey to sovereignty, embodiment, sexual wholeness, and freedom. Ariel values pleasure and expanded states of consciousness as potent medicine with transformative potential.
Qori Qespe Wayta
QUECHUA MEDICINE WOMAN & CEREMONY LEADER
Qori is a carrier of the ancestral feminine lineage of Mama Killa y Pachamama, from the path of ancestral wisdom. She is our Quechua medicine woman, wisdom keeper, cosmovision teacher, and ceremony leader.
Yogini Shakti
WACHUMA MEDICINE WOMAN
Yogini is a transpersonal therapist and medicine woman from Brazil who has been sharing and holding Wachuma (San Pedro) ceremonies for 7 years. Yogini takes us on journeys with the medicine, guiding us on pilgrimages to sacred locations in the Andes.
JoLyn Rekasis
RETREAT COOK
JoLyn is a food alchemist and kitchen herbalist that creates high-vibrational food by infusing prayer and intention into every meal and using high-quality, local, and organic ingredients. Jo helps us by cooking all of our nourishing meals during retreats.
Tatito Morales
QUECHUA DRUM MAKER & COSMOLOGY TEACHER
Tatito is a talented artisan making natural drums out of animal hides, seeing each drum as a sacred being that has been reborn. He shares his knowledge and love for Andean traditions with us through his craft, story, ritual, and ceremony.
Vanessa Gonzalez
SWEAT LODGE CEREMONY LEADER
Vane’s path is woven with the Lakota tribes of the North, and the Huni Kuin tribes of the Amazon, and she comes to Awamayu to share inipi (sweat lodge) ceremonies, where we come together to sweat, to pray for our relations, to remember the words of our elders, and to learn to listen to our intuition. She also works with the jungle medicines of Rapé, Kambo, and Sananga.
Benigno Rayo Dias
QUECHUA HERBALIST & HIKING GUIDE
Benigno is committed to preserving the medicinal plant knowledge of his ancestors by sharing with us through plant hikes, plant meditations, medicinal properties lessons, and essential oil making workshops.
Interested in working with us?
Our Extended Family
We are proud to partner with organizations in our community with whom we share values. We are grateful to work alongside a group of wonderful people that come together to weave the Awamayu tapestry.
