On the line

ST. MARYS - Two Midwest Electric linemen recently traveled to Guatemala to extend electrical service to a small mountain village - a trip they call "life-changing."

Chad Klaus, 33, St. Marys, and Andrew Roettger, 34, New Knoxville, volunteered for the trip organized by Ohio's Electric Cooperatives and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association International Foundation.

The goal was to extend service to La Soledad, a tiny village with a population of 322 nestled high in the mountains. From Feb. 28-March 16, 17 cooperative employees worked 153 hours to energize all 56 homes in the village, which had never had electricity before.

Village crews set the poles before the volunteers' arrival. The volunteers then put in 10-12 hours every day at elevations ranging from 8,500-8,800 feet, anchoring the poles, stringing wire, energizing lines and wiring homes.

"When it was all said and done, all the homes were wired," Roettger said. "Each home got four lights and two outlets."

Roettger and Klaus had both traveled outside the country before but never to so remote a place as La Soledad. They said the most rewarding part of the trip was seeing the villagers' joy as they turned on their lights for the first time.

"These people had basically nothing. They had zero lights, maybe a couple of generators for the school and things like that, but as far as lighting and outlets, they had nothing in their house," Klaus said. "For a lot of people, it was their first time turning a light switch on. We had to show them how to operate it."

Guatemala is roughly the size of Ohio, but that's where the similarities end. The men said working on the rugged terrain presented challenges not seen in their flat home state. Some of the available tools and techniques were different, with the major difference being the absence of bucket trucks. Workers had to climb poles and dangle from harnesses as they worked on the lines set along narrow mountain roads.
One perk of being on top of the poles was the view, Roettger said.
"A lot of the times, you're so focused on the work you have to remind yourself to stop and look up and take it all in," he said. "The views were amazing, especially on top of the pole."
During the trip, they were able to visit Guatemala City, Antigua and some Mayan ruins. They also got a chance to get to know some of the locals and hear their stories. Klaus remembers a man named George who worked in the United States for a time just to send money back so his family could have a home. Stories like these and seeing how the residents lived made the Auglaize County men reflect on the differences between the two areas.

"When you're down there and you see the little kids there, it's hard not to see my own kids there and try and imagine how much different life would be," Roettger said. "For the most part, people work for food here, or possessions, or to make their life easier, whereas there they work to survive. If they don't work, they don't eat, they don't survive. So it's very humbling to see that, and when you go home you appreciate how good you have it."

Klaus agreed with his co-worker, saying the trip made him better appreciate his life.

"That was the biggest thing, the appreciation for the things we have here compared to the way it is down there," he said. "A child being born here compared to being born over there. I don't want to call it lucky over here, the U.S. came from that at one point but just to go over there and see the difference ... how far back in time they are in that area, was amazing."

Both men hope access to electricity will improve the villagers' lives. They heard stories of workers in other houses seeing elderly women in tears because they never thought they would live to see electricity in their homes.

No Ohio workers fell ill or were injured during the trip but Klaus and Roettger were at the scene of one wreck right before their return. On the way back from an inaugural celebration of the new electric lines, a group which included the two men came across villagers standing along a road.

They stopped and saw a distraught mother holding a child with a cut running the length of his face. They couldn't understand what had happened until a man made a rolling motion with his arms. At that point, they realized a truck had gone over the side of the mountain.

After running down the mountainside to see if anyone else was injured, they figured out that children who had been sitting in the back of the truck had tumbled out during the wreck. They decided to take the children to get medical help and, from the last they heard, all were in stable condition.

"It was just eye-opening. The value of objects there, compared to here, they just value it differently," Klaus said of the experience. "They were more worried about getting the truck back up because it was so vital to them surviving there."

Despite the somber end, the two enjoyed their life-changing trip to La Soledad. Klaus and Roettger said they would return "in a heartbeat."