Kate Venner arrived in Honduras in early 2003 and left in September 2004. She gradually took on more and more responsibility as her involvement in the communities she worked with deepened. Several of her more significant efforts are described below.

As liaison for the Minke Foundation in Honduras, Kate managed the construction of a multi-purpose education classroom to be mainly used as a computer lab and library for the local primary school in August 2004. She was also entrusted with funding from the foundation to replace the primary school roof in the village of Las Mangas, which, according to the engineer's report, was "ready to fall on the children's heads at any moment."

Kate worked with Mural Campesino from the program's beginning and has administered the program and its staff throughout her time in Honduras. Apart from the daily business of the program, which included budgeting, training and coordination, she was half of the team that wrote the grant for funding for the project in 2004. She created an environmental education and art curriculum for the year's art classes for children and oversaw the construction of the new Un Mundo building. It is here that finally we have a place to hold classes and to give Mural Campesino a space to work in.

As part of her work with the Juan Pablo Segundo sewing cooperative Kate became friends with United States Coordinator Melissa Bride. Melissa led a community development trip from the U.S. in June, during which the visitors spent three days transforming the kindergarten. Kate, as she does for all projects, met with the parents and the committee and together they planned a playground and made a wish list. Fantastically, the wish list was completed by the group. The toilets were repaired, the swings put up, and even bookshelves and books were donated. Kate's role was typically varied and included buying all the materials, rounding up local youths to haul sand, building a drainage channel, and cleaning paint pots. It was amazing what could be done in very little time and it was great to see the gringos listening to the Hondurans and vice versa.

Kate worked with the village of La Muralla for six months. She initiated contact with the community and maintained constant contact with the community and its leaders. Apart from facilitating the construction of a latrine for the primary school, she has personally donated books and other educational materials. She also helped with the kindergarten free lunch programs for both La Muralla and El Pital.

In the time she was in El Pital Kate has housed, guided and translated for a number of medical volunteers and brigades. In continuing Un Mundo's firm support of the health centre in El Pital, she worked with the nurse and the community committee to raise money, train a nurse and provide medical and educational resources. For the recent gynecological clinic in the summer of 2004, she served as an assistant to the doctor, having prepared publicity and obtained the necessary equipment and medications.

For six months Kate gave English classes in the local high school to grades 7, 8 and 9. She also gave art and literacy classes in the primary school. She worked hard to obtain materials for the schools and facilitated five international donations, not including the Minke Foundation's donation of desks, paint and library shelves.

Since the new projector arrived, Kate joined Cinema Campesino. Un Mundo volunteer Ronald Reinds taught her to use the equipment, and in his absence she facilitated two mini-Cine Campesinos to raise funds for the primary schools in Las Mangas and El Pital. She and Adonis Cortez both supported Ron in his mission.

In her spare time Kate compiled data bases of grant makers and NGOs for future Un Mundo work. She also contributed to the planning of a number of new projects, including Theatre Campesino, a youth newspaper, Mural Campesino, and Cinema Campesino.

Kate spent much time working with the other volunteers, assisting them in their projects and acting as a coordinator between Honduras, the U.S. and the other international volunteers. She was responsible for preparing the ground for visiting volunteers, pre-planning projects and organizing community participation. She was also the person who sat through interminable meetings, festivals, marches and impromptu debates. She maintained Un Mundo contacts within and outside the country and established new ones. She brought in new donors and was a general contact point for anyone visiting the area. As on-site facilitator, she had to deal with a wide range of people, including bishops, politicians, missionaries, teenagers lost in Honduras, vacationers, lawyers, bank managers and pig vaccinators.

One of the main areas of Kate's work was with the Juan Pablo II Women's Sewing Cooperative. She spent a lot of time working with the women to improve their marketing and accounting. She developed a simple accounting system, including introducing filing and work and wage records. Through her efforts the co-op now sells in Copan, Roatan, England and Ireland. The co-op has doubled its income since she began working with them.

In Kate's words:

My time in Honduras would have been impossible without the support of the Lobo family. Initially I lived with Mama, and then I moved into the house of Rosario. I have seen the family go through some horribly hard times, but I am constantly amazed at the hard work and resourcefulness of the family and their constant willingness to welcome strangers into their home. While living in a small village can sometimes be claustrophobic, it has been mainly a lovely time and I look forward to returning.

I also have to mention the many volunteers alongside whom I worked. I made a lot of great friends and met people who are truly dedicated to helping without wanting recompense. It's a tough route to follow, being a volunteer long-term, but we are lucky to have assembled a group of people who are dedicated and so gosh darn nice, too.

I have been lucky, too, during my time here to have the constant and vital support of Adonis Cortez, the Administrator. Working with him I have been able to really get to know the people here in the Cuenca and this in turn has made it easier to work. I have tried as much as possible to get to know the people involved personally. I like to know their names and those of their children. I have seen enough during a year and a half to see that a lot more good could be done if there were resources and patience to work alongside the communities, not on them. I left Honduras having learnt many things and not least that just about everyone who comes here does so for themselves. However, this does not have to be a bad thing if they listen to the needs of the community rather than imposing what they think the communities needs. This is the main reason that I like to work with Un Mundo. We are still small and it is a central tenet of the organization that we facilitate, we do not do.

Take a medical example. You can spent $300,000 on a medical brigade, or you can train the doctors and nurses who are here 365 days a year. Self-sufficiency gives people pride in themselves and their communities; and if they do not have pride, then no project will be properly realized. It may mean that things will happen a bit slower and it can be frustrating, but at least if the move to improve and to empower comes from within the community then your work is half done.

Kate and Adonis later married and settled in England.