Their weakness is always the children.

As with every Project Indiana electrification project, our team of lineworkers is focused on the seemingly insurmountable task ahead of them. They’re driven to get it done safely and are willing to work long days – and often get it done ahead of schedule. San Jacinto was no different.

There is another similar thread that runs through every project: the children of these villages capture the hearts of even the most hardened linemen. And, the San Jacinto children left the same deep impression.

The linemen are humbled by the children. How happy they are with so little. Their joy and spirit, the way they follow and watch the linemen, ready to help and play and learn. They often remind the linemen of their own children back in the states – curious, eager for attention and innocent. But, the Guatemalan children live a much harder life. Just as they would for their own children, the linemen can’t help but want more for them – a better life than their parents have had.

That makes the project team work even harder. They demand more of themselves than anyone ever asks of them. They do it back home and they do it on a mountaintop. It wasn’t enough for them to just give their time. They also dug deep in their wallets for the children.

They collected $1,000 and bought new shoes for every child in the village. 156 pairs and then the market threw in another three dozen pairs for a total of 192. And, they still had money left so they bought two pinatas, fireworks and 10 soccer balls.

They’d been challenged to a soccer match in the large, flat field behind the Catholic Church. The Hoosiers nipped the home squad 1-0 on a goal-scoring kick by Northeastern REMC’s Brent Buckles. Must’ve been the new soccer balls.