Richard Lopez, engineering and operations manager for Socorro Electric Cooperative in New Mexico, has been on multiple volunteer trips for the NRECA International Foundation. His latest was a two-week stint as a restoration team advisor in earthquake-ravage Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

You've been on several volunteer trips, but going into an earthquake zone was a new challenged for you. How did you prepare?

Basically what Myk [Manon, NRECA Haiti project manager] told me was to bring my hardhat, gloves, boots, safety glasses, and expect just about anything. So that's what I did.

What kind of work did you end up doing while you were there?

The scope of work included anything and everything, from working with the Dominican Republic line crew in a bucket truck to working with the Haitian crews to being an adviser and also to coordinating the energizing of these facilities.

Basically, we would do line inspections and make notes for distribution line repair. We would re-inspect after it was repaired, and we would coordinate bringing the power back on. I was working directly with the distribution director. And he would disseminate the work to his crews. I think they had 16 crews and 107 employees, which is quite a few. I would report to Myk what we had done for the day at the end of the day, how many circuits we had energized, et cetera.

What were the working conditions like?

We had a good office. We had plenty of GPS units. They had computers. They had Internet. The conference room where everything was coordinated was fairly nice. And the office was a good office. Had electricity most of the time. Had air conditioning some of the time. And had water some of the time. So it was pretty good.

What is your impression of the work of the NRECA team?

They're doing fantastic work. I've worked with Myk on several occasions. He's great to work with. He keeps things going. Keeps things organized. He has a very broad sense of knowledge. I could ask him just about anything.

Did the Haitian people seem to be appreciative?

I'll tell you a story about that. We had just reenergized the last circuit that I was present for, and they had just finished trimming some trees to get the line off the trees, and they called for the power to come on. The power came on, and I heard this girl scream, and I look over, and she's singing and dancing in her patio. There was a light bulb in the patio, and she was singing and dancing underneath the light. She was really happy. She'd been out of power for 52 days.

That's the picture I look at and say, that's what it's all about.

The Haitians were just really pleasant. We'd be walking through residential areas, and they've been out of power for over 50 days, and you'd say "Bon jour," and they'd turn around and say "Bon jour."

Speaking of which, how's your French-Creole?

I did learn some at the hotel. There were some people that spoke a little bit of English and Spanish, so I could get by. You know, I could count to 10 in French. I could ask where the toilet was. I could ask for a cold beer. Just a lot of basics.

The one French term that I did learn down there that was very well accepted by people was, "I'm just a simple man." They appreciate when you say something like that. And it's the way I am. I never think about somebody writing about what I'm doing. I'm not looking for the publicity. I'm sincere in my help or trying to help.

Did you feel like you accomplished a lot and did some good?

It started off pretty slow. We did some inventories. I got familiar with the substations and the circuits that they were trying to reenergize. When I got there, there was about 25 percent of the distribution system that had been energized partially, and I thought, well, if we can get to 50 percent, I would be happy.

So I worked with their distribution director directly, and when I left, I looked back: We got the factory complex, the textile export back on power. We got some industrial load back on power, the ones that were still operable anyway. We got some large commercial back on power. We got some small commercial back on power. And we started to do some residential towards the end.

When I left, we had partially energized 24 of the 33 circuits, or about 65 percent of what could be served.

So yeah, I feel like we accomplished a lot. I participated in it. It wasn't me that did it. It was the actual Haitian crews.

How were the Haitian crews to work with?

About halfway through my stay, I'd been working with this group of people, the distribution director and a couple of assistants. We went to the bank one day, and I posed a question when we had a little free time to not think about work, and I said, 'Did your house get damaged?' All four of them said, 'Yeah. Gone.' And so I asked the distribution director, I said, 'Where are you sleeping?' He says, 'In the woods.' I said, 'Have you got a tent.' He says, 'No.'

At that point, it dawned on me, the realization of where I was at, that the people I was working with, I just took it for granted that they had homes. These are people that are working really hard to get the power back on, and they're going home and sleeping outside at night.

And you know, I really take my hat off to the Dominican Republic crews too, because they were out there working real hard up until the point I got there. They worked on substations, brought in mobile generation. Their presence in their sister country was impressive.

What motivates you to do overseas volunteer work?

I come from a small town of about 13,000, and people ask me why do you go? And I sometimes wonder that myself. But, you know, we get a little comfortable here in the States. Something like this, you know, you hope to do good. If you can do some good, that's the reward. Beyond that, it's a reality check.

Will you volunteer overseas again?

Absolutely. If NRECA feels the need for someone with my abilities, I would love to go provide it. I think other U.S. linemen should really consider volunteering as well. It's a great way to do something lasting and good, and the Haitian crews in particular would really benefit from the kind training we can give them.

I'd also really like to thank Socorro's board of trustees and our co-op manager for donating my time for the Haiti relief effort. They have been very supportive of volunteer work at our co-op, and they deserve credit for any of the good I was able to do in Haiti.

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