https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8iLk1k1TKI&feature=emb_title
Guatemala is the “place of many trees,” but for the 322 residents of La Soledad, nestled 8,800 feet above sea level, within the rugged, mountainous terrain of the country’s central region, the only thing they knew about electricity was when lightning lit up the skies of the surrounding forest. That changed in March, when 17 linemen, representing Ohio’s 24 electric cooperatives, spent more than two weeks bringing light to part of the 20 percent of Guatemala that had never known electricity.
It takes a village
La Soledad’s picturesque backdrop is the setting for 72 primitive homes that house the village population, composed primarily of families who eke out a living doing backbreaking farm work. According to Dwight Miller, director of safety and loss control for Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives, the partnership between the village residents and the “Project Ohio” linemen crew was a perfect pairing.
“The people of La Soledad work tirelessly, in unforgiving conditions, and that resonated with the crew,” says Miller. “Linemen are used to hazardous, relentless work, in all kinds of weather, when the stakes are high,” Miller adds.
The Ohio crew was determined to bring power to the tiny community, and the citizens of La Soledad worked side-by-side with the linemen to hand-dig holes through seemingly impenetrable rock, set 70 poles and 67 anchors, and do what was needed to be done to bring light to their lives.
Attitude of gratitude
“La Soledad was considered the least of the villages in the area,” Miller states. “Now, it’s at the top of the list. Because of the electrification, people from nearby villages are streaming into La Soledad to build homes.”
La Soledad’s value system can likely take partial credit. According to Miller, the village has an overwhelming sense of community. The Ohio linemen and native men alike started each day in prayer and then got down to work as a team. Most workdays were virtually sunup to sundown; a treacherous trip down the mountainside for supplies meant even longer hours. In a land where hot showers had to wait until the water boiled and toilets are flushed by using buckets, life above the clouds wasn’t quite heaven.
But despite the grueling work and endless hours, sweat and sacrifice were balanced by levity and laughter. The gratitude of the villagers and the opportunity to forever change their lives was a beacon for the Ohio linemen.
Los niños
“Sundays were reserved for church and fun,” Miller indicates. After services, however, given the choice to go into town for “R&R,” the linemen opted to stay in La Soledad. The reason? The village’s smallest residents had captured the linemen’s hearts. Soccer, football (American style), candy, and cornhole games were the order of the day. “‘Project Ohio’ did more than cross international lines,” Miller notes. “It brought generations and cultures together.”
The crew brought more than electricity to La Soledad. Fortified by donations from back home, the bounty brought by the crew included 310 bars of soap; 340 toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste; 156 assorted toys; 170 pairs of shoes; 24 blankets; umbrellas; school backpacks; boxes of school supplies; and financial contributions that will allow La Soledad’s children to complete grades 7 to 12 (to do so, electricity in the village schoolhouse is a requirement of the Guatemalan government).
“Until I got to La Soledad, I didn’t know what poor was,” admits Chris Napier, safety and loss control consultant for Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives. “Still, I wouldn’t think twice about going back.” In fact, “sign me up” reflects the sentiments of the entire Ohio crew. The linemen and the villagers had formed a bond, even as they were beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
6:32 p.m.
The lights pierced the darkness on Saturday, March 12, in an inauguration celebration that lasted into the now-illuminated night. Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives President and CEO Patrick O’Loughlin greeted the crowd in Spanish, joined by Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative CEO George Carter, who supplied candy for the piñatas. “There’s a special place in my heart for the people of La Soledad,” Miller intimates. The village, which used to shut down at nightfall, now has reason to burn the midnight oil — or to at least leave the lights on.
Click here to view more photos from “Project Ohio.”
