NATIONAL STORY KENDRICK WEEKS CARRIES HIS SON ARIES WHILE PUTTING DONATED SUPPLIES INTO HIS TRUCK. CREDIT: GILES CLASEN The Martins insisted every can of food, diaper, and water bottle be cleaned with bleach before going into storage. They couldn’t risk carrying the coronavirus onto the Reservation. The items in highest demand have been hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes. “They are like gold,’ Alicia said. FROM BAD TO WORSE The problems for the Navajo people started long before COVID. A land dispute between the Navajo and Hopi tribes led to a freeze of all development and construction on the Navajo Reservation. The Bennet Freeze, as it was known, was intended to encourage negotiations between the two tribes. Instead, it prevented individuals from legally repairing or replacing their homes. The Freeze lasted over 40 years, until the Obama administration removed it in 2009. But the ramifications continue to impact individuals. Joyce Dale lives in a home that has no working plumbing. The foundation became damaged during the freeze and went unrepaired for years. Dale qualified for a subsidy to help with her housing, but her home was deemed damaged beyond repair, so she is not permitted to use the subsidy to repair the home. “I’m fighting to keep mice and other wild things out,” Dale said. “I’m so ashamed of my house, how it looks. I wish I lived in a better home in a place with water. I wish we could repair what we have.” The house has been re-sided with plywood over the years, and she has a bathroom that stores boxes because the plumbing doesn’t work. She and her husband repeatedly apply hand sanitizer and are isolating themselves to avoid COVID. She fears that if she were to get COVID-19 she would not make it through. She is medically vulnerable due to having had a stroke. DOING WHAT THEY CAN “People don’t understand what we are going through on the Reservation,” Alicia said. “We were forgotten long before COVID, and now we are struggling more because of years of being abandoned.” The Martins are doing what they can to help people during COVID but are already thinking about what they can do for their people once COVID-19 is no longer a threat. They have set up a nonprofit — Families to Families Ajooba’ Hasin — and are close to raising another $100,000 on GoFundMe. Franklin is running for president of his Navajo Chapter. He and Alicia have been talking weekly with their nonprofit board to organize deliveries and seek needed supplies. They work six days a week, often 12 or more hours a day. The Martins are hopeful that their work can help their people today and create more opportunity for their people in the future. They have no plans to stop. ■ To donate to or learn more about the Families to Families Ajooba’ Hasin COVID Relief Fund, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/clean-water-for-navajo CHERYL OSORIO TELLS HER SON JESUS TO TURN THE LIGHTS OFF TO HER HOME. OSORIO AND HER FAMILY LIVE IN A HOUSE WITH NO RUNNING WATER AND NOT CONNECTED TO THE POWER GRID. OSORIO USES A GENERATOR TO POWER HER HOUSE WHEN NEEDED. SHE USES HER WOOD STOVE TO COOK AND PURIFY HER WATER. CREDIT: GILES CLASEN November 2020 DENVER VOICE 9
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