Our very own Kevin Porter, lineman, joined a crew of 15 other Indiana electric cooperative linemen on a trip to a developing area of Guatemala in March as part of an international initiative to bring electricity to the region. The crew spent two weeks electrifying the village of El Zapotillo in Huehuetenango. The team electrified 60 homes, a school, a church and a clinic with 4 miles of primary line, 27 miles of secondary line, 36 anchors and 6 transformers which was done all by hand and without the aid of modern conveniences, such as bucket trucks.

This was the Indiana electric cooperatives’ third trip to Guatemala. In August 2012, 28 Hoosier linemen from 17 of Indiana’s electric cooperatives, spent four weeks working across the mountainous terrain to construct more than 20 miles of power lines and bring electricity to three villages. During this trip, Jerry Applegate, lineman, from Clark County REMC worked on electrifying these villages. In April 2015, 14 linemen battled extreme heat and the rugged land to string 11 miles of wire to connect 76 poles across 2,500 feet of mountains.

Kevin came back home and to the office with a different view on life. The everyday things that he once took for granted he has a whole new look on. We are proud to be able to send crews to villages like El Zapotillo to bring the power of electricity to their lives.