REC Linemen Bring the Gift of Light to Bolivia
Joining crews to help bring electricity to Bolivian village
Last week, six Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) employees traveled to rural Bolivia with twelve other linemen from Virginia and Maryland. The crew will be there for three weeks working to bring electricity to five communities for the first time.
The initiative is entitled “United We Light: Project Bolivia” and is sponsored by the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives (VMDAEC) in conjunction with National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) International and support from the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp.
The line workers will be divided into two teams for an estimated 12 days of work on 11 miles of power line. Their work includes: constructing primary and secondary lines; string, sag and tie in conductors on the structures; hang transformers and make connections; and provide hands-on training to local utility workers. In all, 52 households will be powered.
“The main reason we’re going is to electrify villages and it’s going to change those people’s lives forever. And it will forever change the lives of the guys who are going,” said John Medved, director of safety and compliance at REC and team leader for the project. Medved has previously traveled to Haiti on a NRECA International mission.
The REC team is made up of
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