Walk In Beauty - Spring 2011

by Cindy Cook and Ray Coleman

It was a beautiful April day – just perfect for a drive to the reservation.  As we prepared for our spring delivery of Walk In Beauty shoes, we smudged ourselves and the truck with sage and asked to be blessed with safe travels.

For a couple of weeks we had been collecting the shoes our volunteer buyers had purchased.  Each pair had been selected and tagged for a specific child.  The orders were re-checked and now the back of the truck was filled with 28 big blue IKEA bags overflowing with new shoes.

The sight of us visiting schools with bags full of shoes reminded at least one young child of Christmas.  A 2nd grade boy from Pinon Elementary exclaimed, “Thank you Santa!” as he ran out of the room with his new shoes. 

A small inventory of shoes that had built up was also loaded in the truck.  This allowed us to meet emergency needs for 11 children who had transferred in to various schools after those schools had submitted their shoe orders.

We can’t begin to fully express our gratitude to those who support this program.  The generosity of those who donate to Walk In Beauty permitted us to deliver over 300 pairs of shoes to children in need at our participating schools.  In addition, funds were sufficient to add two more schools.

Stopping at Tsaile Public School to assess their interest in Walk In Beauty, we were surprised to find everyone outside.  A fire alarm had gone off requiring a complete evacuation.  They were waiting for engineers from Chinle to arrive to verify it was safe to reenter the building.  We found the school’s Parent Coordinator, Josephine Yellow, in the parking lot where we told her about Walk In Beauty and signed Tsaile up to receive shoes in the fall.  Chinle Boarding School will also be added to the fall delivery.

An objective of Walk In Beauty is to service school-aged children in areas of the reservation where ANE has food runs.  Meeting this objective can be challenging as it requires us to criss-cross the entire reservation to make deliveries – which we try to accomplish in a one week period.

Further complicating the delivery process are weather and road conditions.  Springtime often brings unsettled weather.  Such was the case during this trip.  We experienced wind and sand storms and a bit of snow.

In addition to delivering shoes, donations allow us to provide socks.  While trying shoes on the children, some are embarrassed at the condition of their socks and ask us not to look.  Others are uncomfortable because they have no socks to wear.  It is heartening to tell them not to worry as we pull out a fresh pair of new socks to put on their feet.

We are grateful to those who volunteer their time to purchase and prepare the shoes.  We may begin calling them our Hunting and Gathering team as they hunt from store to store for the correct sizes and colors of shoes at the best prices.  They then gather them all together and spend a considerable amount of time cutting off tags, removing stuffing materials, lacing them up and tagging them.  Our thanks to Janet Dalton, Anna Law, Jessie Bigelow, Jackie Boyd, Isabelle Kalantzes and Summer Campbell-Kelsch for purchasing shoes for the spring delivery.

Expressions of gratitude for the program are received in numerous ways.  We saw it in the broad smiles of the children.

The basketball coach and Special Education teacher at Little Singer gave us t-shirts.  One was their prized 2011 basketball championship t-shirt.  This tiny school had taken the district championship for varsity and junior varsity for both boys and girls teams.

Kindergarten children from Sanders Elementary squealed with delight when their teacher said, “Remember when we measured you for shoes?  Well, your shoes are here.” 

At Canyon de Chelly Elementary we were greeted with a huge Welcome sign made by some of the students.

Other children express their feelings in thank-you notes.  A 4th grade boy attending Little Singer wrote, “Thank you for buying me new shoes.  I will wear them to school.  I hope they don’t cost too much.  Again, thank you.” 

At Kayenta, a 2nd grade boy had the most pleased look on his face as he said, “These are awesome.  My feet feel soooooo good.”  My Mom wanted me to have new shoes.  She’s going to be so surprised.”

What a blessing it is to be part of a program that puts shoes on the feet of our Elders' future.

Questions about Walk In Beauty?  E-mail us at walkinbeauty@hotmail.com.

For more photos of the spring delivery visit our Picasa photo album.

Rainbow Food Box Packing 4/9/11

by John Aldrich

Following the arrival of the food, the next big step in preparing for the food runs is packing the Rainbow Boxes. Boxes for Oljato and Navajo Mountain are packed earlier, but the remaining food for the other nine runs is boxed on two successive Saturdays. The first of these took place April 9th.

It takes a large crew to accomplish this job. That day we boxed 250 sets (500 boxes). In recent years we have been fortunate to have the Alta High School Soccer Team volunteer on one of the two Saturdays, so they were there that day contributing over 30 strapping young men to our workforce. Here's a photo of the team along with their coach.

Here's a view of the activity in the warehouse looking from the north end.

Regular volunteers Jerry and Louise Sedlevicius pass by Sheri Lund who was handing out the last items to be placed in the boxes.

Jan Snyder has taken Alta High student Alex under her wing to pack boxes.

A video production team is seen here interviewing Linda. They will be producing a video about the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program which should be airing later in the summer or fall on KBYU TV.

This view, from the south end of the warehouse, shows the circle of "shoppers" with their carts and boxes who move around the well-organized perimeter from which each box is filled in sequence with the prescribed food items.

Beverly Benally offers refreshments to passing shoppers.

As the boxes progress around the circle the last stop is for the labels. Sandy Sanders distributes these critical items that assure that each set of boxes will delivered to the intended Elders.

Another active place in the warehouse is the table where the assembled boxes are taped. Sarah Sifers makes it look easy through her years of experience.

Although by the time the following picture was taken some of the regular volunteers had departed, the remaining veterans posed for this shot.

The following is a two minute video of the action in the warehouse. The video production crew is seen at work as well as the energetic high school students.

If you click on "YouTube" at the lower right you can watch the video at a somewhat higher resolution on the YouTube site.

Oljato-Navajo Mountain Food Run Spring 2011

by John Aldrich

Frequently the weather gods are held responsible for some degree of inconvenience at a food run - - - wind and dust, heat, or even snow, but this spring no fault could be laid at their feet. Although we were chased out of northern Utah by a storm, conditions on the reservation were near-ideal with pleasantly cool, sunny days and no wind to speak of. This was a food run of veterans - there were only two new volunteers. So it was a very comradely group from the outset.

As per the usual routine we met in Mexican Hat at the San Juan Inn on the patio overlooking the San Juan River. This is a beautiful way to start a food run especially with spring in the air, the cottonwoods leafing out, and the birds greeting us enthusiastically.

The river always provides a peaceful and symbolic background to this gathering.

The following day our little convoy made its way through Monument Valley to Oljato and the Senior Center there where we gathered for the group picture.

Then we split into teams to make preparations for the arrival of the Elders and the events to follow. Here's a group working inside to set out the Program giveaways.

A touching moment occurred when John Holiday arrived and presented Oscar Merz with this beautiful bolo tie of silver and turquoise. John is a Navajo medicine man and Elder of considerable local stature. Oscar is held in corresponding esteem by our organization.

As more Elders arrive they are offered beverages while they visit and wait for the program to begin. Here Nancy Greenwood offers tea and coffee.

To end the day at Oljato we must pitch in to help clean up the Senior Center. This team left the facility spotless.

After we leave Oljato the logistical base moves to Kayenta so that we can be closer to Navajo Mountain. The next day begins with a beautiful clear sunrise. Here's the ANE van at the Wetherill Inn.

Outside the Chapter House at Navajo Mountain the men line up the Rainbow Food Boxes, produce, flour, and gift boxes. At this particular food run there is also a gift of water. American Express makes a generous donation to help underwrite this food run and this special gift. Navajo Mountain has had to rely on an unreliable water source for many years. This gift honors the challenge these Elders face in meeting such a simple, basic need.

Here's the muscle power that created the Rainbow Circle.

There was an additional water-related gift this year. Mary Robertson explains that everyone will receive a collapsible water container. Mary drives over from Hardrock, several hours away, to serve as our interpreter at Navajo Mountain.

Giveaways are presented by both the Program and individual volunteers. Here's Fientje with an armful.

The final activity at every food run is loading the Elders' vehicles with everything in the Rainbow Circle. Here a pickup is being loaded by the highly efficient team of men.

The spring food run season is off to a fine start, and we eagerly await the upcoming runs.

The Food Has Arrived!

by John Aldrich

Prior to the semiannual food runs, an enormous amount of work takes place at the warehouse in Salt Lake City to prepare all of the giveaways and food boxes. A major event in this sequence is the arrival of all the food needed to fill the Rainbow Food boxes. All the shopping and ordering that leads up to this delivery was featured in a blog last year while this blog focuses on the arrival of the food at the warehouse.

Friday March 7th was the culmination of all the work Roger Daly had put into arranging for the food through Walmart. After parting with over $27,000 ANE was the owner of roughly 35,000 pounds of food goods. Getting all this to the warehouse was facilitated by Boyd Mitchell who rented a Penske truck and drove the three round trips from Walmart to the warehouse.

 

Here are Roger and Boyd with one of the loads. The food is delivered on pallets that must be unloaded from the truck and moved into the warehouse.

Then the cases of food are unloaded from the pallets and placed in their designated places along the warehouse wall.

 

The following photo shows the combined muscle power that made this big job happen.

But this wasn't the only thing happening at the warehouse that day. Other volunteers were busy working on the various giveaways that are an important part of every food run.

Here Sue Powers and Cheryl Wehmanen are packing rolls of fabric that will be donated to Elders.

And here, Sue is collecting items that will be assembled into Grandma boxes.

While Robin Field-Williams is a blur of motion as she tapes together the boxes that will become Grandma Boxes.

Many more days like this one will be needed before we are ready for the spring food runs.

Solar Cooking on the Reservation

by Mary Phillips , ANE Director of Development

It began with a question asked in Summit County, near Park City Utah.  Someone on the 1% Tax Grant commission (they generously help fund ANE’s Annual Navajo Rug Show) asked, “You fund a lot of firewood for the Navajo Elders, and the cost has risen so much, so why don’t they use solar for heat?  They certainly have a lot of sun.” 

Good question, I thought.  But looking on the web I found no affordable solar heating options. 

A year later a board member from the Aqua Fund (they generously support ANE programs) asked, “Do you think Navajos on the reservation would adapt to solar cooking? Couldn’t this help them meet the rising cost of firewood?”  

In Parade magazine I’d read about solar cookers used in refuge camps around the world.  Some camps had no wood available. In others women were raped while gathering firewood.  Children spent all day gathering enough twigs to cook a meal instead of attending school. Families suffered lung and eye problems from cooking on polluting indoor stoves. The article showed how solar cookers solved these problems. They worked just like my old Girl Scout fold up aluminum reflector oven, slow cooking a pot of food or baking a pan of bread by simply focusing the sun’s rays.  

“I don’t know,” I told the Agua rep, “but Navajo people certainly have a huge history of adapting to survive. I think it’s worth looking into this.  Even if they don’t solar cook for every meal it could provide emergency relief when they run out of wood and  roads are closed for weeks due to weather so they can’t get it hauled in.” 

Searching the web for info about solar cooking, I read that you could also heat up a rock in the cooker and take it indoors to provide emergency heat.  Now I had three reasons to pursue introducing solar cooking on the reservation.

The Agua Fund put me in touch with an expert on solar cooking, Pat McCartle.  She is on the board and volunteers with Solar Cooking International introducing solar cooking all over the world. I visited Pat’s home in Virginia.

In her back yard Pat showed me how three types of commercially available cookers work, proving how easy it is to use them and how durable they are.  One type, the two piece foil covered cardboard CookIt folded flat for easy lightweight storage, perfect for an emergency kit or to take on horseback while herding sheep.

I worried that since none of the affordable cookers got hot enough to fry and boil (they crock pot slow cook and  bake), Navajo families might not want to use them. They’d still need another cooking method to make fry bread and coffee or tea. Pat cautioned this would not be the only obstacle.  She said, “It is difficult to get people to switch to solar from wood and coal until they are desperate.  But,” she said, “it’s possible. I’ve seen it, over and over.”  Then she generously stepped into our world of helping the Elders, “ I’ll help you demonstrate them on the reservation” she said, “if you can pay my travel expenses.” 

But before I called the Agua Fund back to ask for funding, I talked to William Whitehair, a younger weaver with the ANE program who lives on the reservation.  Would he consider using a solar cooker and report how it worked for him? 

William had heard of solar cooking and was enthusiastic about trying it. He thought his brother would also be interested, as well as others, maybe not the Elders but younger ones.  He said, “You have to go so far now to get wood, and the permits to cut wood are so much higher. And people who have to buy wood, the price is so high now.” 

The Aqua Fund donated $5000 for our Spring Solar Cooking Demonstrations.  We bought 20 cookers to leave with Navajos on the reservation. With the cooperation of Salt Lake City’s alternative energy program and with complimentary space donated by the city, we set up a solar demo at the Gallivan Center in downtown Salt Lake City.  Another solar expert, Paul, the owner of what has become the reservation favorite, the Sun Oven box cooker, met us downtown and set up a display that included pictures of people using solar cookers.  This came in handy as clouds prevented us from cooking.  People who came by learned about solar cooking and the ANE program. 
  
The first ANE solar food run demo occurred at Many Farms, Arizona, with  40 mph winds on sandy land that is barren for miles. Everyone who remained outside got a free dermabrasion.  Pat braved more consecutive hours outside in the storm tending the cookers, while I went inside the shade house with the Elders and forty-four ANE food run volunteers.

Through a translator I told the Elders and their families that Pat and I were cooking chili and cornbread outside using just the sun, and if they wanted to learn about this kind of cooking, Pat could teach them.  I told them that people far away gave us the money to bring Pat to them and buy cookers for them to take home and try out. They could have one for the price of giving me a report about what they cooked, how often they used it,
and if they had any problems using it.

Using wisdom Pat garnered from women in developing countries (rocks and string will secure cookers in wind) and wisdom from my daddy (keep a roll of duct tape handy) we didn't lose any cooker parts to the non-stop wind.  We constantly wiped sand from the reflective surfaces to keep the food cooking. Despite these challenges we served delicious solar cooked chili and cornbread for lunch.  Elders, their families, and ANE volunteers
were so impressed.

Pat and I used self-selection to decide who went home with  the 20 demo cookers. While Elders engaged in activity inside the shade house, family members braved the conditions to examine the cookers and ask questions.  On her way into the shade house one 90 year old Elder who speaks little English stopped in front of the cookers, visually taking in details.  Pat pointed to the sun and said {phonetically} “Jo-oh-no-eh”, Navajo for sun.  She lifted the lid to show the Elder the food cooking in the pot.  The Elder stared at it.  Then she raised her hand in the air above her head, pumped her arm several times, pointed across the row of cookers, and said with loud conviction, “Is good!” 

Two families spent a lot of time going over the details of how to use the cookers.  They selected cookers to take home. We gave them pot holders and a large can of chilli so they would not have to worry about using their own precious food for their solo attempt at solar cooking.

On Saturday, the final food run, we set up under clear morning skies with a light breeze, cooked food without incident, and found six enthusiastic families to try solar cooking.  One Elder and her daughter stared at the cookers, pointing out details to each other and speaking in Navajo.  The Elder didn’t speak much English.  Her daughter translated that somewhere they’d seen that you could paint tin cans black and heat with them, and they
always wanted to know how to do that.

Pat explained solar cooking uses the same principle as the cans used for solar heating.  Using the cooker they wanted to save money on wood, which was costing up to $150 a load, way over their income, and it was tough to find people to deliver it to their very remote home. They chose a cooker that could take two pots, so they could cook an entire meal using solar.  Their extended family, including school-aged children came over to look at their cooker as we took their picture with it.  Pat explained details to the family and told the children how they could go online and find plans to easily and cheaply make their own CookIts.

William Whitehair came to this food run.  William went to college but came back to the reservation to weave and care for his aging mother.  He tends sheep and grows corn.  He has a laptop and website where he sells his rugs.  An ANE volunteer helped set him up with these resources, which he uses to great advantage.

At the food run William selected a Sun Oven to try.  The metal reflectors for this cooker fold flat across a durable plastic cooking box, they snap down securely, and the box has a carry handle so it is very portable. While talking to Pat and exploring the parabolic prototype that gets hot enough to boil and fry, William asked if he could possibly make a parabolic cooker from old TV dishes found all around the reservation. Pat pointed him to some Internet information sites.

William took his solar cooker home Saturday and emailed me 11:30 pm Sunday night:

“Hi Mary, I hope you had a wonderful Mothers Day. I want to tell you that I used the solar oven today.  I butchered a sheep today for a dinner that we had here at home.  I cooked the sheep head in the solar oven.  It worked great.  Im very pleased with it.  Thank you.  I'll write it down on the paper that you gave me. 
Take care, William.”

At the November Rug Show I asked  Craig, an amazing tech talented ANE volunteer, to help me video William’s resounding enthusiasm for his solar cooker. You can watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIDCVzk9Xn0.  Many thanks to William for allowing me to film him.

Getting feedback from the reservation is always challenging, but so far we have reports from about 1/3 of the demonstrators.  With the exception of one, all are using the cookers and enthusiastic about their ease of use and their durability.  None see the fact that they don’t fry as an obstacle.  Everyone said, “Frying isn’t healthy!” Many said they are glad to have the solar cooker on hand in case they run out of fuel.  It makes them feel more secure.

They are not using the cookers as much in winter as they do in summer.  Many have always cooked outside in the summer to avoid heating up their homes that bake under summer’s sun with no shade from trees or awnings.  So cooking outdoors in summer is not an adaptation, they’ve been doing this all their lives.

As a result of this demo Pat and I listed changes that would improve currently available commercial solar cookers. Pat reported this list to Solar Cooking International.  It includes: cookers need to get hot enough to boil and fry, they need to accommodate larger pots and more than one pot of food to be useful to large families, they need to be designed to readily cook in high wind, they need a mechanical or solar powered mechanism that turns them once an hour to keep them sun focused instead of relying upon a person to turn them, the reflective surfaces need to be made of more durable material that doesn’t scratch as easily (like the material used in rooftop solar panels), and solar cookers need to be cheaper.

With approval from the Aqua Fund, remaining demo funds are buying cookers for families who want another cooker so they can cook enough for their large families. We are also using remaining Aqua Fund resources to send a parabolic cooker to William, so he can test a parabolic cooker that boils and fries.  This cooker was used a couple of times by a family in Phoenix who want to donate it but lost the shipping box to safely mail it to the reservation. Nathan, at http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/, sells this type of parabolic cooker and offers pictures and details about their use.  This cooker can support a big enough pot to make it a practical for family use.  People often use this cooker to keep a pot of water boiling so they can make tea and coffee throughout the day.  

The spot on questions asked by Summit County and Agua Fund remain, as we continue to follow up on results from our little solar cooking demonstration. This winter firewood too often cost $150 a load, more than most incomes can bear.  Will we ever figure out how to cheaply harness that blazing reservation sun for heating, and will we ever figure out how to help people switch from using traditional wood and coal and now propane, to cooking with the renewable free abundant energy of the sun?

I send many thanks to the Summit County Commission for their question that got me thinking seriously about using solar on the reservation.  Thanks beyond words to the Aqua Fund for asking the question and generously funding this demo.

Deep gratitude goes out to Pat who could not have been more perfect for this work in this place with these people.  One way all of you can thank Pat is to buy her book Farishna coming out in June 2011, the breakout novel of 2010 selected by Amazon for publication, a story born of her adventures in Afghanistan in the Foreign Service, where she introduced solar cooking to Afghani women.

If you are interested in learning more about solar cooking, visit these sites:  http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/, and http://solarcookers.org/.

Quilting For The Elders

At the annual rug show last November, quilts played an important role, all be it one that was mostly behind the scenes. Masuda Medcalf helped organized the effort to make over forty quilts that were presented to Elders and weavers at the Thursday afternoon "quilt party".

An avid quilter, Masuda, frequents a local quilting shop known as Elaine's Quilt Block, The owner, Marilyn Cowan, became aware of this project and suggested that making quilts for our Elders could be the focus of her shop's charitable project for 2011. Every year Marilyn chooses a charity and makes the materials needed to produce a full-sized quilt available at no charge to quilters who are willing to make a quilt to be donated to the selected charity.

The following flyer was produced by Marilyn to provide quilters with specific details:

Below is the display at Elaine's featuring the project:

 

To date over 30 quilters have volunteered their time for this charitable effort and many have already returned their quilts. Although the process of picking up a kit and delivering the finished quilt is easiest for local quilters, Marilyn is willing to provide kits to out-of-town quilters as long as they pay the shipping costs.

Recently Linda had a chance to join with Marilyn for lunch and then tour the quilt shop. To their mutual surprise, it turns out that they were neighbors and friends during their junior high school years here in Salt Lake. They had lost track of one another so this became a happy reunion.

The last photo shows Linda and Marilyn holding one of the first quilts to be returned.

 

Marilyn says that quilters are generous by nature and that participating in a project like this is stimulating to their creativity.

If you would like to participate or have further questions, visit Elaine's Quilt Block web site for contact information.

Winter Stories Night 2011

by John Aldrich

We were treated to another immersion into Navajo culture during the annual Winter Stories night on January 30th. Organized by Rodger Williams, this popular evening at the warehouse is well-attended by both ANE volunteers as well as local Navajos who come to share in this winter tradition.

To add to the ambiance of the occasion, Rodger encouraged everyone to think of the warehouse as a "large hogan" for the evening. Attendees also brought a variety of food offerings to share with others.

The program featured a variety of talents including story telling, singing, and drumming. Below is Harry James, who provides the popular Pow Wow event at the annual rug show.

Lacee Harris, a local Ute, is an animated and entertaining story teller. In past years he has usually shared tales of Ma' ii  (coyote), the perennial trickster. This time, however, he related a story about Mouse which contained many lessons about life.

Eileen Quintana, along with her daughter Tinisha, took part in several presentations. Here is Tinisha demonstrating a string game, another traditional Navajo winter pastime. In this photo she has created cat's whiskers.

Eileen and Tinisha performed together in this back-and-forth song celebrating the connection between mother and daughter.

One of the highlights of the evening were several performances by the Cliff Eagle Singers, a drum group led by Emerson Bill. To conclude, here's a video clip of the group performing a ribbon dance song.