Haiti Lineman Wilbert Joseph Learns New Skills From SLECA Employees
(Reprinted with permission from the Southern Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association.
Originally printed in Louisiana County (January 2009 Vol. 25 No. 10), a publication of The Association of Louisiana Electric Co-ops Inc.)

Since 1961, America’s electric co-ops have been exporting the most successful rural electrification program ever developed. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) International Foundation, working with American member-owned electric utilities such as SLECA, have combined forces to electrify many of the poorest towns in the Western Hemisphere. Teams of volunteer linemen and engineers go to locations such as Pignon, a small town in north-central Haiti, to develop an electric distribution system and train local people to operate it. Among those pioneer linemen is Wilbert Joseph, who recently completed a two-week training session at SLECA, where he observed and worked with veteran line and service crews to acquire new skills. While SLECA’s outstanding service and safety records made it an ideal training site, it was the French-speaking skills of several SLECA employees as well as General Manager Mike Guidry that clinched their selection.

Wilbert Joseph and Eric Lapeyrouse

While there are some differences between the Creole French that Joseph speaks and the Cajun French spoken in parts of south Louisiana, “we managed to make ourselves understood,” declares SLECA 30-year veteran employee Eric Lapeyrouse who became Wilbert’s close friend as well as translator during his two-week stay.

Joseph is one of four employees at the only electric cooperative serving about 500 members on the island of Haiti. Created with the aid of Hosean International Ministries, the missionary group helped Cooperative Electrique de Pignon (COOPELEP) get started about four years ago when volunteers from Minnesota cooperatives arrived to help set 400 poles, build the system and train local people to operate it. Pignon Pastor Edmund Sainval notes consumers at the co-op have experienced a 60-75 percent savings over conventional fuels once needed for personal generators, lanterns and candles. Businesses can now stay open longer while local residents can use three internet cafes and attend evening church services. Joseph explains in a three-way interview with SLECA employee Eric Lapeyrouse translating that there’s many differences between co-ops in Haiti and in Louisiana. The two used service vehicles donated to build COOPELEP in 2005 no longer work so any work on the system has to be done manually. Wilbert got an opportunity to learn about three-phase commercial service as well as underground systems at SLECA, neither of which is now available at the Haiti co-op, but will be essential to attract commercial development. Initially, power distributed by the cooperative came from one large generator donated by Donald Trump that was operated for limited periods daily, but over the past four years another generator has been added, expanding electric use and greatly improving the quality of life for cooperative members.

Joseph hopes to return some day to Louisiana with his wife and two sons. “Life is very different in America,” he observes, recalling a visit to New Orleans and how linemen use rubber gloves to work on “live” power lines while the power lines in Haiti are deenergized to perform work. He was also surprised by the colder weather since he doesn’t even own a winter coat and very much enjoyed Louisiana food and hospitality. While training at SLECA, Joseph stayed at the Bed and Breakfast operated by Elaine and Lawrence Bush, the in-laws of SLECA Manager of Finance Roy Landry. Elaine also speaks French and Joseph praised her cooking skills.

Though Joseph returned to Haiti on Dec. 13, SLECA General Manager Mike Guidry, who also serves as an officer on the NRECA Board of Directors, declares, “The NRECA International Program exports the self-help success of rural electrification across the globe. Co-ops such as SLECA provide material, vehicles and training that enable others to improve their quality of life in a process that began in rural America 70 years ago. To Joseph and his fellow cooperative members, we here at SLECA are proud to have been his hosts and wish him and his co-op all the best.”

“Bon Chance, mom amis!”