The Full Story
About us
This is us! We have been working together for two years, and we are a very hard working, inclusive, considerate and capable group of people that happened to come together at a most extraordinary time.
Sandra and Greg
Sandra is 100% Mexican, Greg is 100% Canadian, and together they make a pretty good combo. Both love nature, the outdoors, and animals. Both are deeply devoted to the protection of the wonder of childhood for future generations.
Sandra has had many careers, but all of them lead to becoming a Learning Support specialist working with children who need a loving hand while in the early years of learning. She uses Homeopathy, Sensory-Motor integration, and biomedical interventions to create a holistic approach to support children with learning challenges.
Greg was born in the mountains of BC, Canada, and grew up in Ontario. His background is varied from attending a Waldorf school, studying sculpture and history, and working as a Waldorf teacher. During his life, he has traveled extensively including studying and working as a sculptor abroad. He is currently living in Vancouver, BC where he is teaching art and woodworking at the Vancouver Waldorf School.
Sandra was the one who started the “crazy” idea of creating a self-sustainable community with like-minded individuals in Mexico to regenerate the land through biodynamic farming. Greg said yes because he has always wanted a cow…and because he knows so much about nature, animals, and building. They are enormously blessed to have found the most amazing people with whom to start Rancho Sekkan. Seriously…the most amazing people on earth!
They have proudly raised two incredible human beings, have two cats, and are looking forward to having a dog, a cow, and a horse at Rancho Sekkan! They are excited to contribute to the richness of Mexican culture and to build community not only in Rancho Sekkan but with the greater community of SMA.
Phil and Molly
Phil and Molly Graham have shared many adventures in their 54 years of marriage. From our childhood home in Ontario, we moved to work and homestead in Gaspe, Quebec for 9 years. After 2 sons were born, we moved to St. John’s Newfoundland in search of the ideal community for our family. Our 3rd son was born there. As a family we had 40 years of adventure kayaking, skiing, camping, hiking with friends and homesteading. When our sons moved away, we decided to join a co-housing community in BC. where we found wonderful new friends. Covid was the impetus to move to Nicaragua, then Mexico in search of a like-minded community. We found that in Rancho Sekkan.
Molly worked as a high school teacher and formed a company producing hands on educational materials for schools. In the 90’s she studied Homeopathy and then Heilkunst based on Rudolf Steiner’s work. She ran a clinic with 16 alternative practitioners. She is still working as a Heilkunst doctor and hopes that some of this work will benefit the surrounding communities. She is excited about building a responsible community of like-minded family to regenerate the land through biodynamic farming and through the inspiration of Anthroposophy.
Phil grew up as a privileged kid in Toronto enjoying family, farm and cottage life. He studied civil engineering at University of Toronto where he fell in love with and married Molly. Ever since, they have shared life’s adventures together. Phil enjoyed his work with a mining company in Quebec and later a rewarding career with the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Service as a director of energy and environmental programs. Once retired he pursued his love of building, gardening, music and active sports... He is a follower of Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophy and looks forward to starting the eco-community of Rancho Ecologico Sekkan.
Cary
Cary was born in Ontario and moved with her family to North Vancouver when she was seven.
As a child, Cary loved to dance, read, write stories and poetry, and spend time in nature; she decided she wanted to be a teacher at age five.
Cary has continued on the trajectory to become a teacher, receiving a Bachelor of Education with a concentration in special education from UBC in 1991 and later, her Waldorf grades and Extra Lesson training. She worked first as a Learning Assistance Teacher in Vancouver, then after son Alexander was born, began the journey to become a Waldorf teacher. Cary helped found a small Waldorf initiative called Sun Haven School on the Sunshine Coast of BC. She and Alexander lived in a co-housing community at the time, just four doors down from Molly and Phil!
Most recently, Cary has worked as a Learning Support Teacher at the Vancouver Waldorf School bringing healthy and creative movement to students of all ages.
Over the years, Cary has come to appreciate the value of community living especially when rooted in spiritual principles. She describes herself as a fighter for the spirit and is committed to co-creating a community model at Rancho Ecologico Sekkan that serves to maintain and support the evolving human spirit.
Giselle
Giselle was born and raised in southern Ontario in a rural setting amongst family members who were mostly farmers. In her childhood, Giselle enjoyed sports, fishing, taking care of animals, bees, and plants.
She is an avid student of life with many interests. Giselle completed a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Protection at the University of Guelph. While studying Heilkunst at the same school that Molly and Sandra attended, she was introduced to Anthroposophy and more. The time she spent in Jesuit and Oblate farm communities and l'Arche helped her learn more deeply about community living and beyond.
She values and is grateful for the blessings of divine interventions, no matter how challenging they can be for her. Holding space is also important to her as she recognizes that this way of being is very transformative for everyone.
Giselle strives to be in the present moment, stay in the flow, and keep her light as bright as possible as she realizes that opening begets opening, light begets light, and so on.
Soheil and Nazli
Nazli is a dedicated Waldorf trained member of the Vancouver Waldorf School, working with young children at the Early Childhood Center. Other than her passion for children, Nazli has a keen interest in health and wellness in general. And with a background in computer programming and project management, she is also involved with her husband Soheil in their family business focused on creating wonderful healthy plant based products.
Nazli considers herself a spiritual person, and having given birth to her child in Mexico, the country holds a very special place in her heart!
Soheil's professional background involves working for larger corporations, as well as being a serial entrepreneur, having been a founding member within several companies and projects. Today, his principal area of focus is health and wellness products, developing innovative formulas using beneficial plant-based ingredients.
He is also involved with the Vancouver Waldorf School, currently serving as the Chair of the Board of Trustees.
As a charitable project, Soheil is also focused on assisting an indigenous group in the Amazon with environmental initiatives, as well as work focused on the preservation of ancestral and plant-based knowledge.
Reid and Leah
Reid and Leah are a loving couple who have been together since 2005 and were married in 2017. Originally from Vancouver BC Canada, they now reside on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia with their four beautiful children, Mirelle (age 10), Della (age 7), Michael (age 4), and Lillian (age 1).
Reid is a successful entrepreneur, owning several consumer product companies distributed across North America. Leah is a former registered nurse who now cares for their family and the family's property, gardens, and animals. The family is part of a Waldorf curriculum and community of families where their children receive a holistic education that values creativity and individual expression.
The family loves to stay active and spends ample time outdoors at home and abroad. They enjoy hiking, biking, camping, and exploring new places together. When they are not outside, they can be found spending quality time together playing board games, cooking meals, and engaging in creative activities.
They are a tight-knit group that values family, community, individual sovereignty, and creative expression. Their love for each other and the world around them shines through in everything they do but don't be fooled by their charming exterior - there's a lot of chaos lurking beneath the surface. With four kids under the age of ten, things can get pretty wild around this household.
