the team
Elizabeth Couse
Elizabeth is an environmentalist and food justice advocate who has been community organizing in Latin America for the past decade. She graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in International Agriculture & Rural Development and minors in Education and Community Food Systems. She has worked for a diverse range of nonprofits and community projects to advance the movement for food sovereignty and farmworkers rights. She founded Liberation Agriculture, a storytelling platform aimed to uplift marginalized voices in the environmental movement and support a power shift. She previously owned a farm-to-table restaurant in Costa Rica and loves all thing creative whether that be cooking, photography, painting, or dreaming up ideas for a new world!
Joshua Kwaku Asiedu
Raised within the fast pace of the Western world, yet guided by a deep call to the land, Joshua has spent nearly a decade living close to the way of the Earth. From farming, foraging, building and learning from rural and indigenous communities, he has researched and studied across five continents. Joshua's journey brought him back to his great-grandparents’ ancestral land in Ghana, where he has crafted with his own hands a simple yet functional, off-grid eco-village deep within the tropical forest. After establishing his life in the forest, Joshua began sharing his knowledge through immersive workshops and retreats in natural building, off-grid living, sustainable farming, herbal medicine, traditional pottery, natural food processing, and more, on his ancestral land. Joshua now shares the Earth-centered way of life with a global audience, guiding others toward a land-based revolution rooted in self-reliance, simplicity, and harmony with nature.
Cristina Chan
Cristina is a movement practitioner born and raised in San José, Costa Rica. She holds a degree in Marketing and has spent over 15 years training in ballet and contemporary dance. She brings a deep connection to place as well as an embodied approach to creative expression. After moving to Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast in 2021, Cristina began exploring somatic movement as a way to support emotional awareness and self-expression. Her work is grounded in the belief that movement can be both a personal and collective practice and help people reconnect with themselves and the world around them. Cristina is also a trained doula and is passionate about supporting and uplifting women and carries this passion through all of her work.
The Zuniga Family
Javier and Raquelle founded Villas Mastatal in 2007 and have nearly two decades experience in permaculture, off-grid living, and hosting international groups. They have transformed their 50-hectare property and inspired thousands who have passed through the farm all while raising their two beautiful children, Andres an Ayanara. They have deep roots in Mastatal with Raky's 9 siblings all still residing in the community and running other projects in town. Javi is a master permaculturist and has reforested their land which was formerly a barren cattle pasture, while creating a thriving and abundant food forest. Raky primarily runs the kitchen, with years of experience cooking farm to table meals for large groups. You can read more about their story here.