When IBEW 1245 linemen Samson Wilson, James Scott and Carl Kheen travelled to the small South American country Suriname in the Fall of 2015, they weren’t sure what they would encounter. They had heard from local 77 member Brady Hansen, the founder of the Suriname American Brotherhood Initiative, so they had some sense of the challenges that Surinamese linemen face. They knew that they would be providing potentially life-saving skills and training, but they didn’t realize exactly how impactful the trip would be until they were there.
James Scott
As honored guests at the Local 1245 Advisory Council meeting in January, the three linemen took the opportunity to share their heartfelt stories and express their gratitude to the union for making the trip possible.
“What a great experience! I was able to share my knowledge, and I also learned a lot from the guys down there,” Outside Lineman James Scott told the Local 1245 Advisory Council. “They’re smart people, and it was great to see how resourceful they are.”
“Safety is so important, so to have this chance to be able to keep our brothers safe down there, and teach them basic things … and then to see that light go on for them, it means a lot,” said SMUD Lineman Carl Kheen.
In addition to providing critical skills and safety training, the linemen from Local 1245 also brought along a shipping container filled with safety equipment they had collected, including climbing gear, boots, traffic control flags and eye protection. Tools and equipment are incredibly scare for the Surinamese linemen, and they were clearly grateful for the donated items.
Samson Wilson
“The amount of material that we were able to donate and take down there, and the looks on their faces when they saw all of the stuff we brought, it was just amazing,” said NV Energy lineman Samson Wilson.
While the donations were plentiful, they weren’t quite enough to provide for every lineman in Suriname, and the Local 1245 trainers ended up donating some of their own belongings as well.
“I gave away all my personal stuff,” said Kheen. “My boots, my clothes, even my actual climbing belt that I climbed with for 13 years, I left that for a brother down there.”
The trip itself only lasted two weeks, but the linemen from Local 1245 have found that the experience continues to be a part of their everyday lives at home.
“With social media and Facebook, I’m able to stay in contact with the friends I made down there. I think I came home with 150 new Facebook friends,” said Wilson. “They still ask me questions, because they want to know more. They are excited to learn … and that’s a real testament to what Brady Hansen has built down there.”
Carl Kheen
“I cried when I left. I miss those guys, and I can’t wait to go back,” said Kheen. “I just want to say thank you to the union and everyone who supported us. It was a very humbling experience.”
“What I really enjoyed was coming back home and seeing how many members from Outside Line wanted to ask me about Suriname. They wanted to know what they could do [to support the Surinamese linemen], and if they could maybe be part of this program next time,” said Scott. “Tom Dalzell has done a great thing by helping to promote this. It’s made people proud to be part of a union that’s giving back, not just in our own communities, but also in third world countries that they’ve never even heard of.”
Check out reports from the Suriname trip here, here, here, here, here, and here.