OUR VISION

TO PROVIDE A PLACE WHERE THE WEARY CAN REST, THE ADVENTUROUS CAN BE REVIVED, AND THE MARGINALIZED CAN BE SERVED WITH THE RECKLESS LOVE OF OUR CREATOR. 

Our journey started by taking one step. We moved into a neighborhood and began to get to know our community in Salinas Grande, Nicaragua. As we did, we noticed beauty and we noticed needs. Our goal is to work alongside our friends and neighbors to advocate for better education, increased job opportunities, and improved access to basic needs like clean water.

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 Our new learning center is under construction. Opening June 2024.

THis one of a kind Learning center will be powered by the sun, and have its own water source to provide consistency in our harsh undeveloped area.

Our staff of teachers will be waiting with open arms each week to provide mentorship, tutoring, and healthy meals to any students who may arrive. With a library, computer lab, commercial kitchen, and plenty of space to plenty of space for all the students in the community, La Tribu Radiante will be a true hub of education and opportunity in one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere.

Since it started around a picnic table in 2018, La Tribu Radiante has grown quickly. We are excited for the new facility, but we never want to forget how it started. Hear the story and check out a tour by clicking on the video.

Tribu Radiante | Radiant Tribe

Our children’s center started on our patio. And now The Radiant Tribe has become a solar powered place of safety and security where students can receive the extra help and attention they need.  Over 370 students receive private tutoring, computer classes, and a healthy meal every week.  Our desire is to develop meaningful relationships as mentors with students who want an opportunity to go further in their education. This is why we chose to start with a small amount of sponsored students and are adding more each year according to need. The children’s center is open and welcoming to all students from the village who want to put in extra work to further their education. We are here daily to cheer them on and provide individual support. Our family and a team of teachers serve the food, visit homes and schools as needed, teach, tutor, mentor, and provide educational materials along with a hot meal. We get to be your hands and feet in Nicaragua to give high fives, hugs, and a big smile as each student enters the kids club each week.

“The task of a modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts.”

-C.S. Lewis

TRIBU TORTUGA | TURTLE TRIBE

SINCE 2019 WE HAVE CARED FOR 436 NESTS AND RELEASED over 33,000 BABY SEA TURTLES INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

From September to November each year, Olive Ridley sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach in front of Water & Light. In the ideal case, their eggs would hatch 45-50 days later. However, in Salinas Grandes, the survival rate of sea turtle eggs is nearly zero. Unfortunately, the eggs have become a key source of income for the locals trying to survive in a struggling economy.  During this season, people search the beach all night for nesting turtles in hopes of providing income for their families.  After the mothers lay their eggs and return to the ocean, locals gather up the eggs to sell at the market. Selling the eggs from one nest could provide the same income as fishing every night for a whole week.  If person is unable to find a buyer, the eggs would be eaten as a source of protein. We believe it is our responsibility to care for the world around us so we opened a Turtle vivero (nursery). With the vivero, we are able to provide a full time job for our local nursery manager, provide an income source for our neighbors who find and sell eggs, and also increase the survival rate of the eggs laid on our beach by placing them in protected nests.  In La Tribu Radiante, we are educating our students about the life cycle of the turtles and helping them experience the beauty that is happening around them.

Connect | Volunteer | Awaken

Dreaming of connecting with your family through an adventure? Need time to rest? Have a desire to learn about another culture? Want to volunteer? We would love to help you plan a trip to Nicaragua. We’ll create an experience just for you and the proceeds from your stay will go directly to funding the children’s programs of La Tribu Radiante.

TURN ON THE WATER PROJECT

Salinas Grande is a community of over 2,000 people living in 400 homes across six coastal villages. And while the Pacific Ocean makes for a beautiful backdrop, it presents its own challenges. One look around the dry, thorny landscape and you’ll realize that water tops the list. The community’s well can’t meet the needs of the people. Five of the villages only have access to water for 2 hours every other day. The people there have to be home and ready when the water turns on, filling buckets and barrels just to make it through until the water comes back on days later. The simple answer seems to be “run the pump more!”, but doing so risks intrusion of salt water into their aquifer due to the well’s close vicinity to the ocean. We are so excited to partner with our friends at SuNica to work on tackling this problem. The TURN ON THE WATER project will provide an additional well, install a brand new piping network, work with community leadership to provide clean water education, connect a sixth community that has never had water before. The end goal is to provide 24/7 access to clean water for all of the communities.

MARINER LIBRARY

22% OF RURAL NICARAGUAN CHILDREN OVER THE AGE OF 10 ARE ILLITERATE. WE ARE WORKING TO CHANGE THAT.

This library is a dream project that started with a teacher and her students from Seattle Washington. The construction included over 200 pounds of recycled plastic, reclaimed wood, and was built by local artisans. The goal is to develop a love a reading and expand the world of our students through books. In a community where a single book could cost as much as a weeks wage, there aren’t many opportunities for students to curl up with a great story. We are currently working to add as many books as possible. Why is it shaped like a boat? Because it’s fun of course. There are comfy spots inside, and breezy places in the shade on the upper deck to grab a book and sail away to another world.