By Emily Schilling

What a difference 16 days can make. In just a little over two weeks, 14 Indiana electric cooperative lineworkers and two project leaders brought electricity to an east central Guatemalan village. Ninety homes, a school, two churches and a pump house were electrified, and villagers suddenly looked forward to opportunities they’d only dreamed about. 

Through Project Indiana, an initiative created by Indiana’s electric cooperatives to empower underdeveloped countries, lives are changed forever. Not only do the villagers — especially the children — look forward to brighter futures; the linemen, after helping change countless lives now and in the future, come home with new perspectives as well. 

This month’s issue highlights the latest Project Indiana trip to San Jacinto, Las Conchas, Guatemala, early this spring. Indiana Connection Senior Editor Richard G. Biever accompanied the Project Indiana crew and documents the experience through words and pictures. Visit the Project Indiana website, projectindiana.org, to learn more about the trip, Project Indiana itself, and how to donate to this important cause.

Now, I invite you to turn to page 20 and take a virtual journey to San Jacinto. Because hardworking, skilled, caring lineworkers from right here in the Hoosier state shared their time and talents, sustainable global changes are happening. How exciting is that? 

EMILY SCHILLING is editor of Indiana Connection