Oklahoma Linemen Bring First Electricity to Two Guatemalan Villages

Eighteen volunteer linemen from Oklahoma electric cooperatives spent three weeks in Guatemala this year, bringing first-time electricity to Montenegro and El Estucal in the Guastatoya region. The team built 86 poles, strung about seven miles of line, and installed 11 transformers, wiring individual homes and an elementary school. It’s a project that echoes what happened right here in rural Oklahoma in the 1930s, when cooperatives brought light to farms for the first time.

Cooperative members’fundraising covered an electric two-burner stovetop for every family and supplies for the local health center. A smaller follow-up group returned for a lighting ceremony and outfitted the school kitchen with a refrigerator, freezer, appliances, and fresh paint. Team leader Justin Marsh described the effort as a return to the roots of the cooperative movement, pointing to economic empowerment, better health care access, and improved safety as the long-term wins for villagers.

Since 2016, Oklahoma co-ops have helped make nearly 1,000 first-time electric connections through international projects coordinated with NRECA International. Several of the volunteers came from co-ops that serve communities right around Lawton and the surrounding counties. Have you ever heard a family member talk about the day power finally reached their rural home? Share that story with us.