Making a difference: Mack Yarbrough helps bring electricity to rural Guatemala
By Bert Lehman
Continued from previous edition
In all, Yarbrough said 50 homes in the village, as well as a school and health post received electricity as part of the project.
Yarbrough said seeing the residents get electricity for the first time was more satisfying than he thought it would be.
“I was smiling probably more than them,” Yarbrough said. “I’m just hoping to make their lives a little easier.”
The linemen stayed in Playa Grande, Ixcan, and made an hour-long trip every day to the job site in Tierra Blanca Chixoy, and the village of Salinas 7 Cerros.
“The roads were so bad there, its hills and winding, dirt roads with huge pot holes,” Yarbrough said. “The roads are very narrow. Bridges that are in very rough condition. One vehicle passes at a time. You hope that they make it.”
Because of the condition of the bridges, the linemen made the hour-long trip back to their hotel before dark.
While at the hotel, Yarbrough said he and the other linemen explored the city a little bit, but spent most of their time sitting around getting to know each other better. This time together allowed the linemen to work as a cohesive unit.
“Going there everybody was on somewhat of a mission,” Yarbrough said. “It wasn’t about the money. It wasn’t about any of that. When you take out all those factors you’re going to get 12 guys who genuinely want to be there and want to help. You have guys who want to work together.”
Yarbrough confirmed that there was a lot of climbing, and that all the linemen did their fair share of climbing and other work.
“It was all very evenly distributed,” Yarbrough said. “We climbed every pole a couple of times. The work itself wasn’t bad, but it was just the heat that made it a little harder.”
As precautions against the sun and the heat, Yarbrough said plenty of sunscreen was used, as well as cooling towels, and the linemen kept an eye on each other.
“It was probably only in the 90s but I’ve never felt that kind of heat in my life,” Yarbrough said. “It was hot. We were soaked, top to bottom all day.”
While working to bring electricity to the village, Yarbrough and the other linemen worked closely with local linemen and electrical apprentices. This turned out being an educational experience for all involved.
“We really meshed with them well, and we invited them to work within our crews,” Yarbrough said. “They really liked that. The translator told us they were really happy that we did that. It went really well. We taught them some things and we definitely picked up a few things from them.”
The trip wasn’t all work for the linemen. Through donations, the linemen were able to provide children in the village with shoes, as well as soccer balls. Water filtration systems were also donated to residents. The CWEC Board of Directors and employees donated $500 toward the purchase of the water filtration systems, which cost around $50 each.
“We’re definitely making a big impact because they don’t have clean drinking water,” Yarbrough said. “I’m hoping this has a big impact on their health.”
Looking back, Yarbrough said he is glad that he made the trip to Guatemala and he hopes someone else has this type of opportunity in the future.