In 2023, nine teams of lineworkers from electric cooperatives in Oregon, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado, traveled to Guatemala as part of our member-sponsored volunteer program. A total of 86 volunteers from 47 electric co-ops made it possible for more than 3,000 people to receive access to electricity for the first time. We deeply appreciate their hard work and cooperative spirit to helping bring power to those who need it.
Thank you, for supporting our mission.
Oregon
Seven electric cooperatives from Oregon sent 12 volunteer lineworkers to Guatemala in March last year to bring first time electricity to homes and businesses in a village in the district of Jalapa, a mountainous region in the southeastern part of the country.
Photos by Mike Teegarden
Georgia
In September of 2023, 15 lineworkers from seven electric co-ops in Georgia traveled to Sesaltul, a remote village in north central Guatemala. Over the course of two weeks, they installed four miles of electric lines and brought electricity to 90 homes, two schools and two churches.
Photos provided by Jackson EMC
Virginia, Maryland and Delaware
In October, 15 lineworkers from nine different co-ops in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, brought electricity to 103 homes and a school, in the small rural village of Santa Isabel in northwestern Guatemala. The volunteers spent 19 days building and energizing 5.5 miles of power lines and installing six transformers, all without the benefit of bucket trucks or line trucks.
Photos by John Johnston
Texas
In November, 25 volunteer lineworkers from 10 electric co-ops arrived in the village of Matasanos, located in the eastern part of Guatemala. Over the course of two weeks, they constructed about 4 miles of distribution line, and connected electricity for a school and 55 families in the community.
Photos courtesy of Texas Electric Cooperatives
Arkansas, Colorado and Oklahoma
In December, NRECA International and Heifer International embarked on a project to bring electricity to almost 1,000 people living in 38 communities in the region of Alta Verapaz. Nineteen volunteers from 14 electric co-ops in Arkansas, Colorado and Oklahoma, embarked on this ambitious project and successfully installed service drops and internal wiring in more than 200 structures in 38 communities. Read their stories below.
Photos by James Pratt