In the Lap of No Luxury
We stayed in a fairly decent place,” VonBokern says, giving “decent” a lot of leeway. “We had electricity from a generator from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. There was a TV in my room, but it never worked. It was just for looks, I assume.
“There was zero hot water. And the water itself was gravity fed from the tank on stilts at the back of the building. I found that out the hard way after twisting the knob to the hot side and noticing the water went even colder.”
Need a wakeup call? The neighborhood rooster provided that. Want breakfast? That’s an adventure all its own.
“Two plates of eggs over hard with a full chopped-up raw onion on top,” VonBokern recalls. A cup of instant coffee helped wash it down.
“Basically we ate that five or six times a week. One day they brought out plain noodles instead of the eggs, and we thought we hit the gold mine.”
Lunch and dinner consisted of fish, chicken legs, or goat—“the most cooked goat meat you’ll ever see,” VonBokern says. But no one grumbled. Quite the contrary.
“We never sent anything back. We just ate it and thanked the staff for everything we had. We were just happy to be there.”
Smiles Speak Louder Than Words
Creole is the language of Haiti, and VonBokern learned what he could to try to communicate with people and “become part of the community.”
“I learned the basics, and I could get a laugh out of a few of them with my terrible language skills, but that’s about it,” he says.
Fortunately, a translator was around during the day so the Owen Electric guys could speak with their Haitian counterparts. While language can be a barrier, sometimes the best sentiments are left unspoken.
“One thing I’ll never forget is all the smiling children. They had the most simplistic toys, often made from an old can of food and caps off of a bottle with a string to pull it behind them,” VonBokern recalls. “You would see them running around laughing and playing with the other kids.”
Three weeks went by before he knew it. The Owen Electric crew had paved the way for the next group of NRECA International volunteers to come in and give the townspeople what VonBokern calls “a gift that they’d never had before: reliable electricity.”
He knew there was a lot of work to be done in Haiti, one of the world’s poorest nations.
“I had to go back,” VonBokern remembers thinking.
In January 2016, he did.
Owen Electric sent another team, this time to the northern part of Haiti, and VonBokern says his name was the first on the sign-up sheet. And this time, he would get to see the lights turned on.
Ready for a Life Changer
It still wasn’t the Ritz-Carlton, but conditions were somewhat better on trip number two.
VonBokern was sent to Caracol, which is more developed than Côteaux. The hotel had around-the-clock electricity, plus hot water. The menu had less goat, more chicken, and “tons of rice.”
A clothing factory in town was already powered as the result of NRECA International’s work, and most people in the community worked there.
“They were shipped in from all around the surrounding areas, bus after bus. They were school buses about 20 years old with about 100 people packed as tight as can be in them. It was a sight to see,” VonBokern says.
Many of those passengers lived in homes without electricity. They wanted to change that—which became clear when the Owen Electric crew set out for work on day one.
“I’ll never forget how they made me feel as our work truck pulled up for the very first time. I got out and grabbed my climbing gear. And three people came out and took my tools off of my shoulder and packed them to the pole for me,” VonBokern recalls. “They were ready for something that was truly life changing.”
Most days the Kentucky crew ran service wire to houses, which is fairly routine work. But one task gave VonBokern particular pleasure: “teaching the young crewmen how to do their jobs more efficiently and safely. They all had so little experience.”
Finally, the lights came on.
“I walked in a concrete one-room house to just see one light hanging from some old wood boards going across the roof,” VonBokern recalls. “That’s when it really hit home for me. All the big problems I thought I had weren’t problems at all anymore.”
You Will Never Forget
Despite accolades like the hashtag #ThankALineman, VonBokern says he doesn’t want any thanks. He gives thanks.
“It was a very humbling experience,” he says of his trips to Haiti. “It made me feel very proud to call myself a lineman. Any opportunity I get to better the life of someone else, I will give my best to do so. That’s what cooperatives are about. It’s all about the member.”
He may not be a rich man by bank balance standards, but volunteering in Haiti made VonBokern realize just how rich he is.
“People here complain about a streetlight being out for a night in their driveway, but those folks would build a town around a streetlight just so they can work and sell in the light at nighttime to make a living,” he says. “I often think back and realize how blessed I am to live here in a more developed society. We all take for granted what those folks pray about having.”
Those folks left an indelible impression on him.
“No matter what, you will never forget all the smiling faces. Those people had so little, yet they were so happy and loving towards each other,” VonBokern says. “I knew we were paving the way for a better future. Reliable electricity would bring so many jobs to the people. Most of them made fishing nets for a living or worked in the factory. Now electricity has opened up a whole world of opportunities to make a decent living. From refrigeration of foods to a steady income—everyone wins.”
Would he go back?
“In a heartbeat,” he says. “God gave me a great set of work skills. It would be a shame if I didn’t use them to my full potential and help anyone and everyone I could if I got the chance.”