International
Community Dinners Aid Haiti Recovery
A Minnesota electric cooperative has found a way to give its consumer-members a taste of the benefits of international electrification. The co-op hosts an annual community dinner to raise funds for electrification efforts in the small Haitian village of Pignon.
Co-op staffers from Minnesota pose with Haitian lineworkers in Pignon, Haiti. (Photo By: Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative)
“We’ve hosted at least 20 dinners and raised more than $100,000,” said Mike Callies, a Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative distribution engineer.
“We usually host about 250 to 300 people from throughout our nine-county service territory,” Callies said. “People look forward to the shrimp dinner because it’s a lot of fun.”
Callies made a mission trip with his church group to Pignon in 1998. That led to talks with local leaders about the opportunities presented by electrification. Upon his return, he contacted the NRECA International Foundation.
With the help of coworkers at the Jordan-based co-op, the first fundraisers were held. Donations of tools and equipment began flowing in from other Minnesota co-ops.
Within two years, plans began taking shape that would ultimately change the lives of the thousands of Haitians living in the rural countryside around Pignon.
“For several years, we did two dinners each year, and now we hold an annual shrimp dinner,” Callies said.
In 2005, a dozen staffers from MVEC and other Minnesota co-ops traveled to Pignon to launch the project.
“Our goal was to spend two weeks that first year to build about two miles of line and energize a bunch of lights in the village square,” said Callies. “We thought this was the best way to make an impact for all the residents and show them that we meant business.”
Callies has made about a dozen trips to Pignon since 2005. Several of his original volunteers have also been back at least twice. Co-op staffers from the U.S. have helped build a system with about 500 meters, serving nearly 2,500 village residents.
Hundreds of co-op consumer-members and their guests are expected to turn out at MVEC’s Jordan headquarters Nov. 4 to enjoy all-you-can eat shrimp and get an update on the project’s progress.
Displays around the co-op’s warehouse, where the meal will be served, and placemats on the tables feature information about the Pignon project.
“A lot of our members remember what it was like in the 1940s and ‘50s before co-op lines stretched to their property,” Callies said. “They know how much of a difference electricity can make.”