Fifteen volunteers from electric cooperatives in Colorado and Oklahoma are preparing to leave for Guatemala September 16. They will spend three weeks stringing power lines on 130 poles to bring electricity to two small villages in the Ixcan region near the Guatemalan-Mexican border.
Electricity will be brought to the schools, churches and health centers in the villages of Pie de Cerro and Tierra Blanca Salinas. Each of the 110 homes in the two villages will receive at least two lightbulbs and two electrical outlets. The team also hopes to bring each home a water filter to provide clean water.
The nonprofit Colorado Electric Educational Institute is raising funds to purchase a 5-gallon water filter for each household in each village. These “Eco Filtros,” manufactured in Guatemala, last for two years and make safe, clean drinking water available to the families.
Readers are invited to be part of this project by donating to the Clean Water Fund. Filters are $35 each plus $9 shipping. Anyone wishing to donate any amount can visit crea.coop/community-outreach/current-causes or mail a check made out to CEEI (with Clean Water Fund on the memo line) to Colorado Rural Electric Association, 5400 Washington St., Denver, CO 80216.
Team members heading for Guatemala include Dale Kishbaugh, CREA director of safety and loss control; Christian Baker, Holy Cross Energy, Glenwood Springs; Kris Barbee, Southeast Colorado Power Association, La Junta; Ben Ludington, Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association, Fort Collins; Kelly Snow, United Power, Brighton; Chet Stickler, Holy Cross Energy, Glenwood Springs; and Nate Towne, Mountain Parks Electric, Granby. Alternates are Chris Stanworth, White River Electric, Meeker; and Baker McKonley, La Plata Electric Association, Durango.
Watch CREA’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/coloradoREA for reports from Guatemala September 16 – October 4.