In November, 16 lineworkers from six Texas electric cooperatives—Bartlett, Bluebonnet and Pedernales ECs; CoServ; Mid-South Synergy; and United Cooperative Services—built 6 miles of power lines to bring electricity for the first time to 147 homes in the rural Bolivian villages of Batraja, Jerico and San Antonio de Maty.
To help fund the project, the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation presented a $35,000 grant to the co-ops in February.
“It was an amazing adventure,” said Bo Williams, Mid-South operations VP, who led the expedition. “It was hot for sure. It rained every day—but the people there made it all worthwhile. They were very appreciative and wanted to help every way they could.”
