Upon his retirement and up until his death, Ed Hill turned his passion to establishing EWWBNA - Electrical Workers Without Borders North America. His dream was to share the goodwill and skills of IBEW members with those less fortunate around the world. EWWBNA’s main goal is to aid in providing resources for communities in developing countries that lack key infrastructure, as well as creating opportunities throughout the world by providing knowledge, resources, and experience for the benefit of all. IBEW members have volunteered on a number of projects including two in Haiti: a school in Port-Au -Prince and a training center/orphanage in Cap-Haitien.
Next month, four members from Local 3 - Lou Alvarez, Alex (Archie) Alcantara, Will Bonaparte and Everest Campbell - will head to Angola, a country on the western coast of southern Africa. The Chiulo Hospital serves a community of 300,000 and is in an area not supported by the national electrical grid. The project is to install a mini-grid made up of a 50 kWp PV system and a new back-up diesel generator. The project was born out of the need to resolve grave and insufficient energy conditions for the hospital complex with the objective of meeting all of the electrical needs of the hospital in an on-going, secure, and stable way.
The project will be completed in conjunction with our friends from EWWB Italy. Ed Hill’s legacy lives on. I am proud to serve on the Board of EWWBNA and we should all be proud of our brothers that have volunteered for the project. God speed and God bless the IBEW.
