- Several workers from Nueces Electric Cooperative went to Guatemala for a special project.
- A total of 20 linemen from all over South Texas were sent for this project which took them two weeks.
- The goal of the project was to bring power to the community of Matasanos in Guatemala.
- The project gave power to over 240 people in this village.
Juan Jose Rivera was one of the two linemen from Nueces Electric Cooperative that went to Matasanos.
"It broke my heart when I saw the kids, especially when you see them like how they dress and stuff it is just heartbreaking, it is hard," Rivera said.
Avan Irani, CEO of Nueces Electric Cooperative said this village never had power before and a project like this will improve the quality of life for these people.
"We believe similar practices can be put forward in countries like Guatemala, Liberia, Angola, Bangladesh, and help with the economic growth in some of these surpassed areas," Irani said.
Irami said this project will have a long-term impact on the people in this village.
"The economic benefits for this particular village is going to take a little bit of time to see where they go from here but we have seen impacts with these projects," Irani said.
Rivera said his biggest takeaway from this trip was being able to appreciate life a lot more and being able to help others in need.
"It is kind of hard to say, because over here everybody says hey I don’t like this or I don’t like that, and over there they didn’t have anything, it is going to be a big difference for them and I enjoyed working with those people over there," Rivera said.
Irani said Nueces Electric Cooperative plans to hopefully go back to Guatemala in the next two years to help another village in need of electricity.
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