Healing sanctuary does good works in Mexican village

Mar de Jade offers foreign visitors a unique space to rejuvenate and relax -- and to perform service

Nick Gallo, For Vancouver Sun;
West News Service
Published: Saturday, January 28, 2006
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Fluent in English and Spanish, she's besieged with entreaties in both languages. A California guest wants to discuss a videotaping project. A Mexican mask maker appears, hoping to sell crafts. Then a barefoot villager approaches, needing help for an infection. "Tetracyclina," says del Valle, rushing off to find antibiotics. Finally, my curiosity piqued, I join the line of beseechers: "So, Laura," I ask, "what's your story?"

Thus, del Valle launches into her experiences at Chacala. A family physician who grew up in Chicago and Mexico City, she was travelling on vacation in the early '80s when she discovered Chacala, then an isolated settlement of fishermen who lived on ejido, or communal, land. A one-acre plot was for sale, which Del Valle snapped up.

Eager to practise community medicine, she used a blend of western medicine and wholistic methods to treat villagers out of a palapa shack. Local farmers believed she possessed the powers of a curandera, a healer who can cast spells. Del Valle didn't dissuade them, approving of traditional healing rituals, such as boiling herbs by the light of the moon.

In the early '90s, del Valle began to modernize Mar de Jade, putting in a well, electricity and the first modern guesthouse. Additions followed every few years. A lifelong Zen Buddhist, del Valle built a meditation hall in 1994 and found Zen teachers such as Norman Fischer of the San Francisco Zen Center to conduct group retreats.

Passionate and visionary, del Valle was creating something new in the wilderness: a combination vacation spot, spiritual retreat and community-immersion experience. Soon, alternative-minded travellers were arriving for yoga workshops and human-potential sessions.

Guests volunteered at the health clinic, founded a library in the village and pioneered Techos de Mexico, a program that helps villagers generate income by renting out rooms to tourists. "We've had a lot of really good-hearted people stay here -- people who want to make a difference," says del Valle.

Today, many travellers continue along that path, but things are evolving.

"We've always tried to strike a balance between learning and serving with relaxing and enjoying," del Valle says, breaking into a smile: "Self-renewal takes different forms."

The next morning, I awake clear-headed and fever-free, ready to rejoin the human race.
IF YOU GO:

- Travel: The closest international airport to Chacala is in Puerto Vallarta. Rental cars are available for the 90-minute drive north. Taxis cost $80 for up to four people. Northbound buses ($7) leave the Puerto Vallarta bus station, about a kilometre north of the airport, and stop at Las Varas. Grab a taxi ($10) in Las Varas for the 15-minute ride to Chacala.

- Accommodation: Mar de Jade offers spacious suites and guest rooms that start at $200/night US for two people, which includes three meals per day per person. Contact www.mardejade.com; toll-free, 1-800-257-0532. Inexpensive bungalows for rent through Techos de Mexico (www.playachacala.com).

- Retreat: The Praxis Spiritual Centre of B.C. will hold a Meditation and Creative Spirit retreat at Mar de Jade Feb. 25 to March 1. Participants will learn a simple, integrated daily meditation practice and participate in creative arts activities. Tuition is $650 US. Seven nights accommodation and three meals/day cost $700 US. Phone 1-250-860-5686, e-mail infopraxiscentre.ca or visit www.praxiscentre.ca.