Un Mundo

Nestled in the emerald green hills of the Cangrejal Valley, Honduras, Un Mundo has found the sweet spot in development work. By facilitating the community’s own development process, Un Mundo has built a model in which the work lasts because it belongs to the community itself. Our model is built with three goals in mind – dignity, community, and self-sufficiency – and the projects are simply vehicles for drawing out the community’s potential to reach these long-term end goals. (Learn more or contribute to Un Mundo)

There is one seemingly simple task at the center of Un Mundo’s work: make sure everyone’s voice gets heard. We work with the intention to draw out collective community desires, and we do this by facilitating unique and creative processes in which everyone – even the pre-literate, the deaf, the young and the old – can participate. The path to dignity, community and self-sufficiency often involves reminding each person that their voice really matters, despite never having their voices heard before. Once all ideas and input are heard and a collective decision is made, a powerful force for change – backed by community initiative and capacity-building provided by Un Mundo – is set into motion.

The results are extraordinary. In the past five years, with the support of Un Mundo, community members have formed committees and tasked themselves with constructing the first public vocational high school in the valley (inaugurated by a community celebration on November 30, 2012), creating the first regional public library to improve literacy, providing health and education services to children with special needs, and organizing a network of midwives to improve maternal healthcare services in the valley. Additionally, with Un Mundo’s facilitation, a group of community members has begun working with Engineers Without Borders, and is currently designing a brand-new water system that will provide sufficient clean water to over 250 homes in the community of El Pital.

El Pital, the community nestled on the forested banks of the Cangrejal River where Un Mundo is based, is ripe with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Children with special needs, who were once shamefully kept secluded in their homes, now smile and greet passers-by – eager to share about their recent classroom successes. Community members glow with pride at the mention of the largest building in town, the high school, to which students bus an hour from the nearby city of La Ceiba to attend. The women’s group speaks of their plans to open a cooperatively run restaurant, and the library committee shares about the success of their creative community fundraising initiatives (a $1 ticket for admission to a movie screening, as well as a small bag of popcorn).

Un Mundo’s model assumes that capacities are being built among community members such that, one day, we will be able to step away from the community and the development will continue.

We look forward to continuing this important work in 2013 and beyond, and we need your support! Join us by making a donation, purchasing a raffle ticket, offering your skills, or connecting with our community on Facebook. Our work would not be possible without the generosity of our growing community, and we hope you will do what you can to make next year a success!

Check out photos of the past year with Un Mundo!