COVER STORY The villagers participated in the project from the beginning, working together to set the poles for the line coming into the village in preparation for the project. This work had to be done by hand. Even the shovels they used to dig the holes were often handmade, carved from one of the hardwood trees that grew in the area. The Americans noticed the teamwork and not just among the local villagers. “Almost every day men would come to Sillab from neighboring villages to help with the work we were doing, knowing that they were going back to an area that wasn’t receiving power,” Bruna noted. But these villagers had hope. They knew NRECA International was working in the area. The nearby village of Chiis received electricity in another Oklahoma project two years ago. The whole village of Chiis lined the road and cheered for the convoy of co-op linemen as they drove through on their way to the worksite that first weekend. The people in Chiis understood what these Americans were bringing for the people of Sillab.
CELEBRATING LIGHT Everyone celebrated Friday, September 6, when the lights did come on. The villagers gathered at the local school to show their gratitude to the Colorado and Oklahoma volunteers. The leader of the village, who had prayed over the crew when
Delivering Water and Backpacks to Locals
Villagers were all smiles as the Colorado-Oklahoma Energy Trails Team delivered a water filter to each family in Sillab, Guatemala, after the lights came on Friday, September 6. The team also delivered a backpack filled with school supplies to each child in the village. The water filters, backpacks and school supplies were made possible through donations from electric co-ops, co-op employees and co-op consumer-members. the team first arrived, now offered a prayer of thanksgiving. He explained, through an interpreter, how appreciative the people of Sillab were for this gift of electricity. Then his wife stepped forward. In tears, she said, “I don’t know if you understand what this means.” She went on to explain that she has always had to get up in the dark and, in the dark, take her family’s corn down the road to where it could be ground, then walk back in the dark and then make tortillas by candlelight. Now, she will no longer have to make her family’s breakfast in the dark. “That was my favorite part of the trip: being able to turn on the lights and to see their faces,” said Jace Noe, a lineman from Southeast Colorado Power. “If I have one God-given skill or natural ability, it is to climb wooden power poles, and
for me to use this skill to change these people’s lives for generations means everything to me,” said Rod Sherman of Holy Cross Energy in Glenwood Springs. “I smile knowing that we made a difference in Sillab with a service that many people in America take for granted,” Bruna said. Stanworth agreed: “It was great to drive away and know you did something that really helped them.” The Colorado and Oklahoma linemen brought electricity and light to the village of Sillab. But the people of Sillab gave back so much more in the joy and friendship that they shared with their new friends from the north. The people of Guatemala have had a piece of editor Mona Neeley’s heart since last year’s trip with the electric co-op international team to a different village in Guatemala.