UWG Wolves | Athletic Programs | Official Athletics Site

UWG Volleyball Players’ Journey to Help Honduras

By: Danny Talbert | October 27, 2025

CARROLLTON, Ga. - In November of 2024, UWG volleyball players Alex Strating, Rylee Henderson, and Molly Brunell first learned about a week-long mission trip to La Paz, Honduras. Fast forward four months, and the Wolves were 1,200 miles away from The City of Dreams, distributing water filters to the locals while connecting through their faith.

Bordering El Salvador in Central America, La Paz is one of Honduras’ 18 political and geographic departments. For years, communities in this region have struggled to access clean drinking water.

“The only water they had was from nearby creeks, which was very dangerous to drink from,” said Brunell. 

“The people didn't have drinking water for five months when we got there. They collected what they could in wells, but it had flies in it and bugs, dirt, and debris,” added Strating. 

Henderson recalled meeting one family whose struggles reflected many of those in the area. “We met one family where the mom was a stay-at-home mother and her husband worked in the fields, which is basically what all the men there did, there's really not any other job options. They would take their money and buy water from men saying that it's purified, but it was not actually, and people were getting sick and dying.”

To combat this issue, the non-profit organization that arranged the trip, Campus Outreach, partnered with Filter of Hope, another non-profit organization, to provide UWG students with water filters to distribute to the locals of La Paz.

During the week, each day, the three Wolves, along with about 17 other UWG students and translators, would go home-to-home with these filters in the hope that it would spark a conversation.

The Wolves described their interactions with the locals as mostly positive. “Even without telling them why we were there or about the water filter, they were pulling out chairs for us to sit in their home. They really wanted to make us feel at home when they literally had nothing. It was just kind of a different culture shift for sure,” said Strating. 

 

The trip not only gave the West Georgia students an opportunity to help the Hondurans, but it also allowed them to explore a country whose language, customs, traditions, and day-to-day life were all foreign to the group of Americans.

“I personally loved meeting such strong women. It's pretty normal for their husbands to not be faithful to the family, to have lots of children with different people. You walk into these women's homes who are going through that, and their faith is still strong,” said Henderson. “We also met one woman whose child had recently died because of sickness from the water, and her faith was still just so abounding. That was a humbling moment for me.”

Adding to the conversation, Brunell said, “I have a newfound gratefulness for everything that I have. I think it made me do some self-reflection, and there are a lot of things that I spend my day complaining about that just don't matter. I just need to give more thanks for everything that I do have. I have a bed to sleep in, a roof over my head, and I have running water 24/7.” 

Joining in, Strating stated, “Some of these people were living in homes that the walls are made of mud. There's no roof, there's extreme heat, and they don't have water, like it's just an impossible living situation they're somehow making work, but they need people's help,” 

All three players said that they are thankful for the opportunity to go to Honduras and recommend any student who has the chance to go to take advantage. 

“We are still such great friends with those people that we went on the trip with and we will have those connections for the rest of our lives. Just something as small as more support at our games. Like now we can look up and see our friends that we went on the trip rooting for us,” described Brunell.

Strating added, “If you get the opportunity and the funding to go, do it. I was unsure at first about going, but I’m happy I did.”

Campus Outreach continues to work with students here at UWG to provide them with the opportunity to go on trips like this one. Next year, 20 new UWG students will be heading to Cuba.

If you are a current West Georgia student who is interested in learning more about the upcoming trip and Campus Outreach, please follow the organization's Instagram page @co_westgeorgia or reach out to West Georgia's Campus Outreach contact, Melayne Holdbrooks, at 423-664-3714 or Melayne.holdbrooks@campusoutreach.org.