Durham Native Connects Honduras to Local Community

Sept. 17, 2010 - PRLog -- The third annual Un Mundo (One World) benefit event, Celebrate Un Mundo, will be held September 25, 7:30 pm – 2:00 am at Alivia’s Durham Bistro, located at 900 W. Main Street in Downtown Durham. More exciting than ever before, Celebrate Un Mundo will be a fun and memorable evening of dancing, performances, and video presentation focused on raising awareness on pressing Honduran issues while celebrating Latin American cultures and inspiring current and prospective supporters.

Celebrate Un Mundo symbolizes a “coming home” for Elly Goetz, Un Mundo Executive Director. Daughter of Durham business leaders Lou and Tracey Goetz, she is a graduate of Riverside High School (1999), University of Colorado (2003), and Pratt Institute of NYC (2009). Goetz began her work with Un Mundo in 2007, and has lived in Honduras since early 2008, working to promote dignity, community, and self sufficiency among marginalized populations in rural Honduras.

“We are so grateful for the support we get from the Durham and Chapel Hill area,” says Goetz. “Triangle residents have been donating their time, resources, and money to our projects on the ground over the last few years. The past two summers, a group of Durham residents have volunteered to help improve a small local clinic, build the area’s first school playground, and construct waterless latrines for families without bathrooms. This past June, Un Mundo hosted two UNC students, Kera Murphy and Lauren Brock, with Graduate Supervisor and Durham Occupational Therapist Hedy Lent-Bews for six weeks to conduct baseline research for the Un Mundo Special Education Project, assessing 72 people with disabilities in 22 villages.”  

“A core part of our methodology is living and working side-by-side with the villagers our organization serves,” Goetz continues. “We live and operate organizationally with minimal resources just as the locals, meaning limited access to transportation and communication, frequent loss of electricity and water, and frequent all-day hiking to conduct research, as was the case with the Special Education Project. Through the efforts of Hedy Lent-Bews and her graduate students, disabled individuals were geographically located and evaluated, identifying prevalence in the area and making recommendations for future services. This type of assistance is invaluable… We are deeply appreciative of the people who give their time to projects like this. It’s amazing too, to see how these experiences deepen cross-cultural bonds, changing people’s global perspective for the rest of their lives.”

Goetz leads a team of dedicated Un Mundo volunteers and professionals whose goals are to improve the lives of people in the most remote villages in the Cangrejal Valley Region of Honduras, facilitating access to the fundamental needs of health care, education, and livable wages. Un Mundo’s comprehensive approach to grass-roots community development promotes local traditions, encourages community leadership, and emphasizes collective ownership of projects.  

All donations to Un Mundo are tax deductible. For more information on Un Mundo, visit www.unmundo.org. For tickets and information on the Un Mundo Benefit at Alivia’s, contact Elly Goetz at (919) 943-1390 or visit www.unmundo.org/ncbenefit2010.

Rebecca R. Newsome, MIRM
Constructive Marketing  
919-844-7794
rebeccan@mindspring.com

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