I thought moving to Forsyth was hard, but that was just the shallow end of the kiddie pool. Now I’m treading water over the Mariana Trench.
This week I moved to Lame Deer. Lame Deer is a town of 2,000 people located about sixty miles south of Forsyth on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. I will be working with the Boys & Girls Club to start a garden, develop healthy snacks and meals and offer nutrition education. Though the work itself should be fun, I am completely overwhelmed by the transition to living on the reservation in the midst of a foreign culture.
My new home is a trailer owned by the Boys & Girls Club, where I have yet to enjoy the amenities of running water or a working furnace. There is no internet and no cell reception, which enforces such isolation that I am not confident I can handle it. To make a phone call I walk or drive to the Boys & Girls Club parking lot. There is a level of poverty here I don’t even associate with the United States. It looks like rural Mexico to me, with stray dogs roaming the streets and houses held together with tarps and duct tape.
Obesity and diet-related disease rates are astronomical in this community. I’ve been told to not even bother with the grocery store here if I want to eat “fresh” produce, which means I will be driving twenty miles to Colstrip to do my shopping (remember, “fresh” in this region is a relative term.) Drinking several sodas a day alongside multiple servings of processed food is the norm, as is dealing with diabetes. Although there is a desperate need for change, I’m not at all sure that this is something that I can do. The limited time I've already spent here has required all of my willpower to not jump in the car and drive straight home.
This upcoming week, I’ll see if I can find a place for myself in this new community, and pray that the next 105 days are easier.
you are so brave. some people look at what i do and call be brave- and i look at you and think that word doesn't mean what they think it means. fight as hard as you can, and if you have to quit, do it knowing you gave it your best.
ReplyDeleteThank you Skander.
ReplyDeletei remember the first time i spent time on a rez: it was in arizona at the navajo nation reservation. i saw the same kind of things: my clearest memory is one of my kindergardeners (i helped the teacher with her reading program) staggered around pretending he was drunk. i asked him who he was pretending to be, and he said "my dad." it broke my heart, but i remember the teachers at the school saying "thank you for coming and helping," even though we were only there for a week. i hope that you'll find a champion or two--someone who's tired of how things are and will help you change them. i'm rooting for you girl! stay strong!
DeleteYou goofed in selecting. Call St Labre and move there ASAP. You can succeed there. Amish colony nearby and a bountiful baskets site starting end of month in Ashland. The Ashland clinic would likely help you too. Email me direct for encouragement.
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