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Good Neighbor Podcast: Cobb County
E45: Beyond Borders: How Rayo de Sol is Transforming Lives in Nicaragua
Ever wondered what lies beneath Nicaragua's headlines? Peter Schaller, the driving force behind Rayo de Sol, reveals a country of extraordinary beauty, resilience, and opportunity that rarely makes the news.
Working in Nicaragua since 2008, Rayo de Sol has cultivated deep, transformative relationships with communities facing generational poverty in the northern highlands of Matagalpa. Rather than spreading resources thin, they've concentrated their efforts where they can create the most significant impact through comprehensive programs in education, health, spiritual growth, youth development, and economic empowerment. What makes them exceptional? Their unwavering commitment to stewardship, efficiency, and building lasting community bonds rather than implementing quick fixes.
Peter dismantles common misconceptions about Nicaragua with firsthand knowledge. Contrary to its portrayal in crisis-only media coverage, it's a remarkably safe country with rich family values. He offers a refreshingly nuanced perspective on immigration, explaining how economic pressures—not desire to leave home—drive migration. When Peter describes Nicaragua's diverse geography, from coastlines to cloud forests and Lake Nicaragua's freshwater sharks, you'll find yourself planning your next trip.
His personal journey from troubled youth to dedicated humanitarian demonstrates how service heals both recipient and giver. "Serving other people is spiritually and emotionally healthy," he reflects, showing how his organization embodies this philosophy through their work with approximately 20,000 people.
Ready to experience purpose-driven travel? Volunteer opportunities let you combine service with exploration of Nicaragua's natural wonders. Visit rayodesol.org or email connect@rayodesol.org to learn how you can contribute your time, professional skills, or financial support to create sustainable futures in one of Central America's most misunderstood gems.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Millie M.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone, Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, Millie M. Are you looking for a wonderful nonprofit organization to be a part of that does amazing service work in Nicaragua? Well, one might be closer than you think. I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Peter Shaler of Rayo de Sol. I'm working on my Spanish. Thank you for being with us, Peter. How are you?
Speaker 3:Good morning Millie. Thanks so much for having me on today. It's a great day.
Speaker 2:It absolutely is. We're so excited to learn about you and your organization. Tell us more about Rayo de Sol.
Speaker 3:Rayo de Sol is a non-denominational faith-based organization and we implement community development strategies in Nicaragua. We've been registered in Nicaragua since 2008, so we've got quite a bit of experience. And eight, so we've got quite a bit of experience. We work in the northern central highlands in a region called Matagalpa, and we have programs in spiritual growth, primary and early education, community health. We have a youth program. We also work on economic development solutions.
Speaker 2:Sounds beautiful. What made you get into doing something like that?
Speaker 3:Sounds beautiful. What made you get into doing something like that? Well, for me it's really been a lifelong commitment. I've worked in nonprofits pretty much my whole adult life and in Central America for the past 25 or almost 30 years, and unfortunately, there's still a lot to do. There are people in need and there are vulnerable people and families. It also happens that the need is great. That's why I've decided to stay there, and you know, our organization is really focused on making change in a relatively small regional area, because that's where we can have the greatest impact, rather than getting spread out to a lot of different locations.
Speaker 2:Makes perfect sense. What are some myths or misconceptions about what you do?
Speaker 3:For one thing, people always ask about safety. Historically, nicaragua is one of those countries that's only in the news when something really bad happens, but it is a very safe country. It's a culture that's very much focused on family and community, which is a couple of the reasons that I've decided to stay and live most of my life there. I think also there's some misconceptions about poverty, especially now that we are talking a lot about immigration, and immigration is a very complicated topic To me. It's really nonpartisan, it's just a reality. It's the result of, you know, many, many decades of poorly designed foreign policy and economic strategies that have left countries like Nicaragua and other Central American countries in very precarious situations. You know which is what really provokes immigration. So if you ask a hundred Nicaraguans if they want a new family, their home and their community, 99 would probably say that no, they'd rather stay in their country, their families, but they're often obligated because of, you know, economic pressures to migrate. So that's a huge myth about why people leave Nicaragua.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and thank you so much for explaining that in such a very succinct and simple way.
Speaker 3:So outside of work, let's talk about what you do for fun a little bit Sure. So Nicaragua is also a beautiful country in Central America, which is a small region, you know a collection of five countries, six if you include Paraná, seven if you include Belize. It's a strange political grouping so it's very accessible. There are so many different ecosystems. Personally, I love to be outside and I have a background in ecology, so I love to explore natural areas and different ecosystems. We have a lot of coasts on the Pacific side. We have coasts on the Caribbean side. There are. Nicaragua doesn't have rainforest. We have some cloud forest. There are mountains where coffee is grown. There is a lake in Nicaragua which is really unique lake. It's the only place in the world where there are freshwater sharks sharks, which is a great trivia. Question or answer to a trivia question and there's an island in the middle of the lake.
Speaker 3:There's an island in the middle of the lake that's formed by two active volcanoes, so there's a lot of unique geography um which, in my free time, I love to explore that sounds you're making you're.
Speaker 2:You've got me sold on a trip to nicaragua. Let me just tell you that right now, you're welcome to visit whenever you want.
Speaker 3:Yeah, doors are always open I'm on my way.
Speaker 2:So, as far as people who want to be a part of what you do, like who is a? I guess we can divide this into two questions who's your target person that you serve, I guess, in Nicaragua, and what's the target person that you would look for, I guess, to be a part of your organization to help?
Speaker 3:Great question. The people that we serve are families that are living in conditions of extreme generational poverty. So we work in areas urban communities and rural communities where there's very little access to social services, income levels are extremely low and people really have a difficult time in their basic needs. So we target intentionally the communities that have the most difficult conditions and we try and, through our network of program services, find ways to guide people out of generational poverty. And as far as getting involved with the organization, we have a lot of volunteer opportunities. We are, as all, nonprofits. We are fundraising 366 days a year.
Speaker 3:I'm actually in the United States right now on a fundraising tour. I'm hitting several states Baltimore, new York, cincinnati, atlanta, florida. We're based in Georgia, but we're supporters in different parts of the country, so there are many opportunities for people to get involved financially, for people to volunteer not just in time but also their skills and knowledge. We have several times a year we have groups uh churches or from schools or families that want to come down. It's a great way to also plan travel in a vacation that has a little bit more purpose. So we often do is design visits for people where they can work, serve with us for a few days and also see some of the beautiful natural wonders that Nicaragua has to offer. So many ways for people to get involved.
Speaker 2:I love it Double duty, doing service to the world as well as experiencing a beautiful place, both visually and culturally, it sounds like. So let's talk about if you could, for me, describe a hardship or a life challenge you overcame and how it made you stronger.
Speaker 3:I think that I came across service work because I went through some very rough spots in my earlier years before getting out of high school and after getting out of high school as many young people in the United States do in kind of some rocky times and got mixed up with people and things I shouldn't have gotten mixed up with. And then I um that service was a way to provide a direct benefit to other people and it also greatly benefited me personally. You know, serving other people, no matter what your faith tradition is, is um. It's spiritually very healthy, it's emotionally very healthy and there's a lot of personal satisfaction to knowing that you can improve somebody's quality of life. So, having gone through very difficult times and really lived on the edge for many years, I've found that helping people find ways to solve critical life problems is my way of giving back for the people that reached out their hands and took me in when I was also going through the same challenges their hands and took me in when I was also going through the same challenges, paying it forward.
Speaker 3:I love that, so please tell our listeners one thing you want them to remember about Rio de Sol.
Speaker 3:I think the best thing about our organization is that we really have tried to build a nonprofit that's very unique.
Speaker 3:So I've worked in a lot of nonprofits over the years and I've collaborated with a lot of nonprofits and there are a lot of nonprofits that are doing good work and some that are less efficient. There tends to be a lot of money wasted in nonprofit organizations I'd be the first to criticize, sometimes financial practices. So we have built an organization that is very efficient and we're very focused on stewardship, with the limited resources we have, and also the foundation of all of our programs and relationships. So we aren't the type of organization that will just go into a community, execute a short-term project and then pack up and leave and go somewhere else. We have long-term relationships with the communities that we serve. We know the families that we serve very well. We serve a population of probably 20,000 people but we have, to the degree possible, a very personal relationship with those families and that allows us to really help guide them towards change. So our organization, I venture to say, is unique in that sense.
Speaker 2:Well, tell our listeners how they can learn more.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Our website is rayodesol R-A-Y-O-D-E-S-O-L altogether org and we're a very small organization so everything kind of comes directly to me. In the end. There is an email address on our website. It's just connect at riot of the soulorg and that comes to me directly. If anybody's interested in volunteering their time or their professional skills, we'd like to schedule a visit, we'd like to donate. Of course, you know, like all nonprofits, we always need money. We always need connections to new churches, to new businesses. We have a fundraising event in Atlanta every year. This year it's going to be October 25th. That information is on our website as well. It will be at a venue called Monday Night Brewing and we would love to have more people join us and contribute to the work we're doing in Nicaragua.
Speaker 2:Perfect Sounds good. Thank you so much. I really really enjoyed having you on the show today. Appreciate you being here, Wishing you and your organization the best moving forward.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much, Melody.
Speaker 1:Appreciate it. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpcobcountycom. That's gnpcobcountycom, or call 470-470-4506.