Billy, the lineman’s “assistant”

The project crew is providing each of the 109 homes with two outlets, three overhead lights, and three light switches. At one of the first homes they wired, they encountered a young boy named Billy. Although a language barrier exists, he greeted each new friend with a smile, a fist bump and “Hi, I’m Billy!”

Ten-year-old Billy watched intently as the linemen wired his home, where he lives with his family, which includes two brothers and two half-sisters. As the linemen prepared to move on to wire the next home, they found Billy tagging along. He quickly became a great assistant, grabbing a tool, holding a ladder, fetching a part — whatever the crew needed. And he’s tagged along to each home they’ve wired since. He’s become their little assistant.

The school in the village of Palmira has one teacher. To accommodate the learning needs of the different levels, they rotate the students in 2-3 week increments, with 1-2 grade levels attending at a time. As fate would have it, Billy’s grade level isn’t in session right now.

So, Billy greets the crews when they arrive early each morning and follows them throughout the day. He just wants to be a part of it – he just wants to help. He can take pride in knowing he has played a part in making the future of his community brighter. And, maybe Billy has a future as a cooperative lineman?

And, the linemen he’s worked with on this project will certainly leave a piece of their hearts with him when they return home.