By Cliff Bellamy

cbellamy@heraldsun.com; 419-6744

DURHAM -- At Broad Street Cafe Saturday, Carlota Santana and Flamenco Carolina will perform flamenco and Spanish dance, and Durham DJ Nogui Aramburo will be playing salsa, cumbia and other traditional Latin musical styles. Visitors can participate as well: Salsa lessons will be provided early in the evening.

While learning about Latino culture and music, visitors also will be helping the international organization Un Mundo, founded in 1998 to help villages in Honduras pummelled by Hurricane Mitch. The proceeds from Saturday's event will go toward several ongoing and new projects in the Cangrejal Valley Region of Honduras -- a community library and a special education project-- said Elly Goetz, co-director of Un Mundo.

The organization's slogan is "Dignity, Community and Self Sufficiency," and the organization has recently built a community playground and waterless latrines, with Durham residents among the volunteers. Goetz, a Riverside High School graduate, is now a full-time Un Mundo staff member in Honduras. She became interested in environmental and community issues while teaching English in Ecuador. When she was in grad school "this opportunity presented itself to me, so I left graduate school a little bit early," she said. She plans to continue her work with Un Mundo for about four more years.

Right now, Un Mundo helps with projects in about seven villages, and in some 20 communities in the mountains accessible only by foot, Goetz said. Eventually, Un Mundo wants to have projects in another country or perhaps another area in Honduras.

In future years, Goetz said she wants the organization to reach out to the substantial Honduran community in the Durham area.

Flamenco Carolina is the North Carolina adjunct to Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, a New York company that performs Spanish dance. Santana, who teaches a flamenco course at Duke University, established the company in the mid-1990s when she came here to build bridges with a growing Latino population. In response to the growing demand for Spanish dance programs, she established Flamenco Carolina, a group of local students who perform flamenco dance.

By day, Aramburo is a real estate agent in Durham. He has been DJ'ing for about 15 years. He said visitors should come prepared to be exposed to different styles and genres of Latin music.

Saturday's benefit is the second to be held in Durham. Each year, a benefit also is held in San Francisco, Goetz said. Organizers want audience members to enjoy themselves, get an appreciation for the work of Un Mundo, and perhaps volunteer their skills. "Because our name is Un Mundo we hope that as the years continue we continue to spread the idea of one world, that were all interconnected. ..." Goetz said.

Go & Do WHAT: DJ Nogui Aramburo and Flamenco Carolina, in a benefit for the Un Mundo organization

WHEN: Saturday, 7 p.m. to midnight. Salsa lessons begin at 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Broad Street Cafe, 1116 Broad St., Durham

ADMISSION: Tickets are $15. To purchase in advance, visit www.unmundo.org or call Elly Goetz at 943-1390