A small village in Guatemala, La Montanita de la Virgen, now has electricity, thanks to the efforts of determined Colorado and Oklahoma lineworkers who recently returned to the United States. This was the third philanthropic trip to electrify a village in Guatemala (Sillab in 2019, and Pie del Cerro and Tierra Blanca Salina in 2018) but the first international trip in two years, due to COVID-19.
The joint-state team spent nearly three weeks in September stringing line through a dense forest (above) and wiring the 72 homes in the village for electricity. The team also wired two churches, a school and a health center for electricity.
Colorado’s team for the NRECA International project included Zeb Birch, Grand Valley Power; Trenton Jole, Holy Cross Energy; Nathaniel Pennell, Mountain View Electric; and Clayton Shonk, White River Electric.
The team also delivered water filters and kids’ backpacks filled with school supplies. These were made possible due to donations from Colorado Country Life readers and Colorado’s electric cooperatives.