Awaken in the Land of a Thousand Hills
About The Retreat
A Journey of Return, Reflection, and Reclamation
Over the course of seven transformative days, this retreat invites you into a deeply personal and powerfully collective journey—set against the breathtaking beauty and sacred resilience of Rwanda. Every moment has been intentionally designed to nourish your body, awaken your soul, and reconnect you with the truth of who you are.
Your days begin with first-class breakfasts that awaken the senses and open space for presence. Mornings include grounding rituals and personalised coaching that invite you inward—through guided reflection, journaling, and the kind of questions that stir transformation. Throughout the week, you’ll receive healing touch through massages that help release what your soul is ready to let go.
This retreat takes you beyond the walls of self and into the beating heart of Rwanda. You’ll be guided through sacred memorials—spaces that honour the past and offer perspective for the present. You’ll walk lands that carry both grief and grace, bearing witness to the resilience of a people and a nation.
You’ll step into vibrant cultural centres, meeting artists, painters, drummers, and dancers whose work pulses with the spirit of this land. You’ll experience the joy and healing power of movement, music, and community—and see how art becomes a voice when words are not enough.
You’ll spend time in spaces led by women who are redefining power through purpose. From learning how coffee is farmed and sorted to understanding how these women have used their hands and hearts to rebuild opportunity across the country, you’ll leave changed by their wisdom and strength.
Throughout, every meal is shared with intention—from beautifully prepared lunches to five-star dinners that celebrate local cuisine and connection. Market outings offer a chance to engage with Rwanda’s living culture, while one-on-one coaching sessions deepen your inner work in private, focused spaces.
Midway through the retreat, you’ll enjoy a full-day safari—an adventure of celebration, awe, and connection with the natural world. It's a moment to play, to marvel, and to soak in the joy of simply being.
And on your final day you'll be held in what we call Ceremony Day, a sacred closing of the journey. With a final massage, advanced reflection and coaching, a soul-filled farm lunch, drumming, dancing, and shared farewells, the circle is gently completed. You’ll walk away not only rested and inspired—but transformed.
This is not a retreat for escape. It is a return to yourself, to your truth, and to the sacred ground of possibility.
What Makes This Retreat Unique?
This retreat is a return to self, to soul, and sacred land.
Set in Kigali, Rwanda—the Land of a Thousand Hills, this retreat unfolds on soil that has known deep pain and even deeper transformation. Rwanda is not just a backdrop; it is a teacher. A land that has transmuted its past into peace, strength, and spiritual power—offering participants more than scenery, but a healing ground.
And leading this sacred experience is Jessica Bailey—a woman who knows this journey intimately. Born of this continent, Jessica was taken from her external home, and later, stripped from her internal one. Her identity, culture, and mother tongues were not only unwelcome in the Western world—she was taught to hide them in order to belong.
Years of displacement, racism, and domestic violence pushed her far from herself. But after a decade of battling invisibility and internal war, Jessica found her way back. She returned not only to Africa, but to her soul. In doing so, she reclaimed her true voice and discovered that the power and peace she had been searching for were within her all along.
Since coming home to herself, Jessica has:
- Authored three books, including Your True Voice
- Written and directed three films, including the award-winning I’m Not a Nurse
- Become a sought-after public speaker
- Certified as a transformational life coach
Her life is a testament to what is possible when we return to our voice and root ourselves in our truth.
But this retreat is not just about one woman’s return.
It’s about yours.
Throughout this retreat, you will be nourished not only by the land, but by the women who shape it. You’ll encounter living examples of strength reborn—women who have transformed their circumstances into leadership, healing, and purpose. Their stories are not lectures; they are lived experiences—powerful reminders of what it means to rise from the soil of hardship into the sunlight of empowerment.
You’ll feel the rhythm of the culture through art, dance, and language. You’ll be embraced by the community not as an outsider, but as a witness. You’ll taste the soul of Rwanda through meals that carry both tradition and story. And in the quiet spaces between, you’ll hear your own voice more clearly.
This retreat is also guided by the grounded strength of Martin Soklich, Jessica’s partner in life and in this shared vision. Born into a European migrant family in Australia, Martin spent decades building a successful business in the mining and gemstone world, hardworking, relentless, and always solving problems head-on. But everything changed after the tragic loss of his 16-year-old son. That heartbreak cracked something open. It made space for something new. What began as a life of grit and grind has since become a path of clarity, purpose, deeper meaning, and healing.
When Martin first felt the call to Rwanda, he couldn’t explain it, only that something in the land was reaching out. And what made it even more powerful was that Jessica felt it too. They had already found each other, and together, they began talking about the pull they both felt toward Rwanda, realizing it wasn’t coincidence, but a shared calling. Once Martin arrived, he understood. There was something ancient and alive in the hills. A people who had endured the unimaginable, and transformed their pain into beauty, strength, and grace. That experience moved him deeply. It shifted his priorities and reshaped his understanding of what truly matters.
While he doesn’t lead through coaching or speaking, Martin brings a quiet strength, a lifetime of resilience, and a deep willingness to walk beside others in their process. Throughout this retreat, he’ll be there to guide, support, and hold space, quietly offering his own lived wisdom while helping create the container for transformation. In Jessica, he found not only the love of his life, but the beginning of a completely new chapter. Together, they are building something sacred, a legacy not just of healing, but of returning home to self, to land, and to love.
This retreat is more than a getaway. It is a soul pilgrimage. A space for those ready to peel back the layers, listen deeply, and rise into who they truly are—with Rwanda’s hills holding them, and Jessica guiding them.
Benefits of the Retreat
Return to Your True Voice
Shed the layers of silence, fear, and conformity—reconnect with the soul of who you truly are.
Heal on Sacred Ground
Experience deep emotional and spiritual healing held by Rwanda’s transformed land and collective energy.
Awaken through Culture
Let Rwandan dance, language, art, and cuisine stir something ancient and alive in you—your roots, your rhythm, your joy.
Be Held in Soulful Community
Walk alongside other women journeying home to themselves—through storytelling, circle work, and shared sisterhood.
Safari Within the Retreat
Among lions, elephants, and open plains, you’ll reconnect with your own untamed voice - leaving with deeper trust in who you are and the path ahead.
Transformation, Together
Supported by two people waking their own path of healing, love and purpose. Their dynamic presence holds both strength and softness.
Leave Aligned, Grounded, and Empowered
Go back into the world with clarity, purpose, and the inner authority to lead from your true essence.
The Core Promise
You’ll walk away knowing that who you are is enough, rooted in your true voice, trusting yourself deeply, and carrying the courage to bring that authenticity into your life and leadership.
The Retreat Experience