Did you know that when you round up to the D Gary Young Foundation, your pennies really make a difference around the globe? They do. When you choose to earn a little extra so you can give a little extra, it is amplified. Some days it may seem your efforts don't matter, or maybe that's just me experiencing a low facing some challenges after the high of enjoying time with great friends old and new at our Finca Botanica Young Living farm. I am writing this and putting this here to remind myself, I matter, you matter, we together matter.
I heard of Gary's vision for this farm around 2008-2009, from Karen Hopkins, because she was brave and joined Gary on his great amazon adventures. I remember her showing me photos and telling me about Gary's dream to get sponsors for the school children, that he and Mary personally paid the teachers salaries in the beginning, and his dream to plant ylang ylang to secure the right picking process for the best oil. I remember Max and Dr. Stewart (what a glorious day it will be to see him in heaven) going and planting ylang ylang trees, and then the day I got to walk in those trees and another trip when Michael and I planted even more ylang ylang trees there. I remember being a part of fund raising for the high school. This trip I cried again seeing the donor wall with so many of our diamonds and members names on it. Together, e did that, we built this amazing school where the students are able to eat 2 hot meals and now graduating and attending university, when before Gary's vision the drop-out rates were staggering and girls could not continue schooling past menstruation.
7 other members and I had an incredibly beautiful week at our farm and clinic in Ecuador Jan 17-24, 2026 learning from clinic staff, getting amazing health level-ups, a few studied Solfeggio Vibrational Raindrop technique with me, we had a fabulous tour of the newest Cacao farm and chicken farm project next to the YL Academy, and we had a great time visiting the students and riding a wagon thru the palo santo forest. message me back if you'd like to see more videos or have me do a zoom and share more about this trip that any of us can schedule and grow from. Click here to watch some videos about our visit https://vimeo.com/1157770698?fl=tl&fe=ec
Back around 2015, my son Adam and I went to Finca Botanica together and met Michael, a student I had begun sponsoring from my first trip to Ecuador in 2013. 
Michael and I were invited and able to attend our student's, also named Michael, graduation ceremony
After graduation, he was able to study massage and work part time with the school children in their sports program and worked also at the Nova Vita clinic. On this visit, it was a tearful, heart expanding time for him to be launching into the world, moving to a new city with a roommate also who graduated from the Young Living Academy. Pray for his mama, ya'll who know what it's like to have your first chick fly away from the nest, can understand how hard this is on his mama's heart. I cried, she cried. It's normal for these young people to get their own places and jobs, I keep telling myself. My heart swells with pride that he is ambitious and wanting to work and make his own way, while my heart aches knowing how much his mama will miss him. He promised to come back anytime I am coming to the clinic and Michael said, it's ok, we will visit him in his new town the next trip we make.
My goal is to make a trip there as often as there are 10 others who are ready for this experience. So if that is YOU, write to me and let's get the next trip scheduled.
In gratitude and love,
Carrie
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