The ELIA 7-day Wellness Retreat held at Pacific Adventist University (PAU) has delivered life-changing outcomes for participants and highlighted the urgent need for lifestyle health programs in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
Held from June 22 to 29, the intensive program was a collaboration between ELIA Wellness, Cedarvale Health and Lifestyle Retreat, and the 10,000 Toes Campaign. It brought together 34 participants from PAU and surrounding communities for a week of evidence-based lifestyle medicine and spiritual renewal.
“We were designed to thrive,” said Dr Geraldine Przybylko, executive director of ELIA Wellness and Adventist Health director for the South Pacific Division. “Our goal is to take people on a journey toward whole-person health so they can live their best life to serve.”
Participants engaged in daily stretching, resistance training, post-meal walks, hydrotherapy, therapeutic massage, cooking classes and health coaching sessions. As part of the program, they also conducted a 10,000 Toes community health expo at the PAU market.
The retreat, held at the university’s School of Health Sciences, aimed to address PNG’s growing burden of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, while also promoting mental wellbeing.
Professor Lalen Simeon, deputy vice-chancellor academic and provost administration at PAU, praised the program’s practical impact. “The Wellness Program offered a truly wholistic lifestyle experience for me. I gained new perspectives on wellness and healthy lifestyle. The recipes used many local ingredients, which made it practical and relevant. The exercises were fun. The presentations covered the health message with the scripture and the treatments were a perfect way to complete the whole package. My lifestyle has changed since attending this wellness program.”
According to Jenny Wigglesworth from Cedarvale, the retreat uncovered serious underlying health concerns: “Only 10 of the 34 participants had blood sugars in the normal range. By the end, 18 were in the normal range, three had moved from diabetic to pre-diabetic, and one had reversed diabetes to normal.”
The most dramatic case involved a participant whose fasting blood glucose dropped from 23 mmol/L to 12.3 mmol/L in just four days—achieved purely through lifestyle changes.
The program also upskilled PAU dining hall staff, who worked alongside Cedarvale’s chefs to prepare nutritious plant-based meals using local ingredients.
One of them, PAU food services director Viana Raliku, participated in the retreat and reported losing 8kg in seven days. “I have been blessed,” she said. “I plan to help my food services team make these healthy foods available to support our staff and students.”
Dr Przybylko was moved by the impact of the program and thanked the team for joining forces to run the retreat. “It is truly inspiring to witness the life-changing impact of the health message God has entrusted to us. We extend heartfelt thanks to ELIA Wellness, Cedarvale, Pacific Adventist University, 10,000 Toes Campaign and our volunteers for uniting to make this vision a reality”
Given the strong interest and impact, the organising team is planning a second retreat in 2026.
