“There is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer”, a well-known quote, by Lt. Col. James Doolittle, that came after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
With this quote in mind, we want to thank our MVEC linemen, Justin Garcia and Raul Morales, for help bring power to the mountainous village of Matasano, in Guatemala.
For over 60 years, NRECA International has been a global ambassador working in developing countries, such as Guatemala, to help bring electricity to rural communities. Building an electrical power infrastructure for the village of Matasano will be more than just an essential commodity. This electrical backbone will be pivotal for Guatemala’s education advancement, economic growth, safety, and health care betterment. MVEC is excited to be part of this effort and to have our linemen, Justin and Raul, represent not only MVEC but also the Rio Grande Valley.
We also want to thank Justin and Raul’s family for supporting their decision to come on board in this altruistic endeavor. Our linemen took upon a huge challenge. For two weeks, Justin and Raul had their manual work cut out, this meant that the assistance of their typical linework machinery was not at their disposal. Our linemen dug holes, carried and erected poles, assembled the overhead line structures, spanned overhead lines, installed protective devices, carried transformers, and connected power to the villagers’ homes. All this hard work was accomplished while maneuvering the steep terrain of this mountainous village and dealing with the panting that comes with the change in elevation.
In addition to linework, our linemen helped the villagers install electrical panel boxes, run wire, and even installed some lighting and outlets. The villagers of Matasano were very grateful and assisted the linemen in every step of the way. Don Antonio, the village leader of Matasano, who worked along with our linemen, wrote a letter to all the cooperatives expressing the villagers’ gratitude and appreciation. Don Antonio said he was impressed and very happy to see that the Texas cooperative linemen were able to continue the job where other cooperatives had stopped. Given the harsh terrain our Texas linemen really stepped up to the plate! Don Antonio was very surprised to see how our linemen worked just as hard as the village people did. Furthermore, it is heartwarming to know that the people of Matasano will enjoy brighter family gatherings and won’t have to rely on their traditional candle lighting, anymore.
The interaction with the village people was a shared learning experience that Justin and Raul will cherish their whole life. “The job seemed impossible and daunting, but all this hard work was worth it after seeing a little girl in a red dress carrying a huge bag of bread on her head passing us with ease while waving and smiling at us”, says Justin Garcia. Justin also narrates how he gave up his sandwich to a little boy who ends up splitting the sandwich into 4 to share it with the other kids. This was a very angelic move by both the little boy and Justin. Stories like these leave you speechless.
On another occasion, Raul recounts how every day the villagers would fixed up a walking stick with their machete to helped him hike through the treacherous terrain. This was a very brotherly gesture and made Raul feel safe. For the fallowing days Raul made sure he brought them all kinds of snacks, like cookies and candy (especially lollipops, their favorite candy). On the last day, as a token of appreciation, Raul bought the villagers (i.e., his work crew) a very important and useful gift, a machete. The grin on their faces and the excitement in their eyes was very rewarding.
In closing, we are pleased to see how much support and love the Rio Grande Valley community has been showing to our linemen Justin and Raul on our Facebook post. MVEC is thankful for having Justin and Raul represent our co-op and thankful for the support the Rio Grande Valley community has shown to our linemen and our humanitarian “Powering Guatemala” effort.
