Pulling up to the village of Buena Vista was a spectacular moment that I will never forget. As soon as the schoolyard came into view, we realized that all of the villagers – men, women and children – had gathered there to greet us. It was humbling to see so many smiling faces, all filled with such joy and gratitude, because they knew we had come to help bring them electricity. They expressed how grateful they were to us for coming, and we told them how happy we were to be there. It was emotional, really.

These people are so ready for electricity, and they have worked hard to help make it a reality. In preparation for our arrival, they hand-dug and set all of the poles. If you could see the terrain here, you would understand what a difficult task that must have been. It is so steep, and fairly rocky. I’ve been in the mountains before, but never mountains like this.

I had to laugh to myself at one point this afternoon when we were framing poles in Guatemala’s terrain. I looked around, took note of my surroundings, and thought – well there sure are a bunch of sheep, goats and linemen climbing around on the mountain today.

After seeing how much this project means to the people who live here, there is no place else I’d rather be.

– Contributed by HomeWorks Tri-County lineworker, Brad P.