Naschitti residents still waiting on repairs to washed-out roads

Nearly every time it rains in Naschitti, the culvert bridge to Bahe Begay's hogan gets washed out. He has missed doctor's appointments because there was no way for him to cross the arroyo to get to the road because he isn't able to traverse the makeshift bridge his family uses to bring him medicine and food. [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

By Natasha Kaye Johnson
Diné Bureau

Begay's family members are forced to amble up this makeshift foot bridge so they can take him medicine and food until the bridges get repaired. [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

NASCHITTI — Bahe Begay is 81 years old, and has lived his whole life in Naschitti.

Though it was many years back, Begay remembers a winding wagon trail not far from his small hogan, but he doesn't recall times when the hard rains completely washed out roads or culverts.

Because of the recent drought, road conditions have become harsher than previous years, and Begay is one of hundreds of elders across the Navajo Nation whose daily living circumstances have become affected by the adverse weather.

This past week, the road to his home washed out, leaving a small ditch between his home and the main dirt road, and Begay had no choice but to miss two of his doctor's appointments, and his daily meal from the senior citizens center was not delivered for three days in a row.

Luckily, Begay's cousin walked over some food she picked up at the center on Monday.

While the circumstances of the situation worry his family, Begay manages to keep his humor and wit intact.

Sitting in his wheelchair outside his home on Thursday afternoon, Begay rubbed his stomach and jokingly said in Navajo that his stomach was empty for three days. Like many elders, Begay faces a number of health problems that require frequent visits to the hospital. Begay is diabetic, has had a slight stoke in the past, has hearts problem, and sometimes even has seizures, though his family has yet to see him undergo one.

While the family is fortunate that he has not had a seizure while at home, they are worried that he would not even be able to get help from an emergency responder if something were to happen.

"That's the thing that I'm scared for," said daughter, Edith Morris, 51, referring to his health.

Morris said her father stays at home by himself most of the day, until her younger brother comes back in the evening. Because Morris works full-time in Gallup, she cannot leave work during the day to check on him.

When the roads wash out, Begay is restricted to his home for days until the culverts are replaced, which took over a week this past time it washed out. Morris and other family members must park their vehicle on the main dirt road, and then walk across the muddy arroyo to his hogan.

"He can't even go to the store," said Morris. "He can't walk across the wash and the arroyo."

Begay must use a wheelchair to get around, and sometimes uses a cane or his chair as a walker. Because of how frail Begay's body is, and because of safety reasons, carrying Begay across the arroyo is not an option.

"It takes three people to carry them across, and us ladies aren't strong enough," said Marita Charley, 54, of Naschitti. Charley is an in-law to family and lives across the road from Begay.

Morris said they're trying to prepare her father for the winter, but they can't even haul wood, and they had to carry buckets of water across the arroyo to her father's home.

"You hear everyday in the news: Think about your elderly, make sure they have food, make sure you haul them wood," she said. "You hear it constantly on the radio station."

All too familiar
For Mildred Kee, Senior Center Supervisor for Chinle Senior Citizen Center, the story of Begay's situation is all too familiar, even though she runs a center in a separate agency that is almost on the other side of the Navajo Nation.

Lee said the quality of service provided to elders in similar situations all depends on how the individual senior centers work with the chapters and the leaders.

"If you call all 92 senior citizen centers, you will probably get the same response," said Kee. "It all lies in the hands of the local governance."

While Kee said that the center tries its best to get meals delivered and care sent to the elderly, the program is limited.

"Our program is to get out there rain, sleet, or snow," said Kee. "That is the most time when we are needed out there."

But by having only 14 seat-passenger vans as the primary transportation for elders, many times getting to muddy, rural roads is just impossible, and Kee admits that some elders do go without a meal for the day.

And because many elders do not have telephones, or are in areas where there is no cell phone reception, there's no way to call to let some elders know that the meal they expect everyday is not going to be arriving.

"There's only some parts where you can use your phone, others parts you're just a sitting duck," said Kee.

When roads get especially bad, the center goes to fleet management to trade their van for a truck, that is, if there is one available.

While the operation of each facility and agency varies, Kee said that agencies network with other community resources when such situations arise. For the Chinle Agency, Kee said the Apache County Sheriff's office steps in, as well as the local adult and home care program.

Community Health Representatives in the five agencies also play an integral role in providing care and services, and Kee said they are helpful, but are limited because of reasons like eligibility. And while there are first responders, direct service responder, and emergency response teams on hand to help the elderly, actually getting to them remains the biggest challenge.

This past week, when the microburst storm hit the Tuba City and Whipporwool area, Kee said service to many elders was affected since arroyos filled completely in places like Blue Gap.

Kee, like many other people who work in elderly care, agrees that there is not nearly enough funding for elderly programs.

"I hate to say this," said Kee, " (but) there's no guidelines and nobody really advocating for them to make them first priorities." On average, the Chinle center alone with limited staff provides service to 80 plus elderly.

"We're trying to be a jack of all trades," said Kee, who is one of four employees, including a cook, driver, and a part-time worker. The Chinle center also has a volunteer who comes in.

"I believe a lot of our leaders try to compare the metropolitan area with the rural area," said Kee. "There's not way to get metropolitan area to our area."

And though Kee wishes they could help more elders, it just doesn't seem feasible.

"The need is so great, but the means to do it is not there," said Kee.

Shared frustrations
The frustration that Kee feels with local government in general is equal to that of many members living on the Navajo Nation.

"We always go to the chapter house, but they never do anything about it," said Charley.

Many times Charley said she has witnessed elders from the community ask for help with the roads.

"I don't know why they don't listen to them," she said.

Jeannie Yazzie, 53, of Naschitti, said her mother, Ella Sleuth, 79, moved to Albuquerque eight years ago because she was sick of the road conditions, and nothing being done to address it.

"She moved to Albuquerque because of all of this, the water, the flooding," said Yazzie, who recently told her mother they were attempting to get the roads fixed. "She said, 'What makes you think they (chapter officials) will get something done? When your dad was here, we went to the chapter house and they never did anything.' "

Although the chapter came out after a week to repair the washed out culvert, residents see it as a quick fix.

"They fix it, but when it rains, it will just wash out again," said. "It gets washed out every time it rains."

"Its just a band-aid fix that they do," said Yazzie, while looking into the ditch filled with debris.

For the past three years, Morris said she and other community members have verbally asked that the chapter house divert the water from the home, but have yet to see results and were told that an archeological clearance is needed. This fall, Morris decided to ask for help through a formal letter, in hopes that the family's plea for help will be taken more seriously.

Morris said the chapter house told her to get two culverts, so that they could be put in. A few years ago, Morris did went to the BIA who gave her two used culverts the same day she asked for them. But the chapter house has yet to properly install the culverts.

Morris's family member by clan, Harry Yazzie, 79, of Naschitti, and his wife, Clarene Yazzie, 58, have just stopped asking them for help when the culverts get washed out, and begin working on repairing the culverts themselves, using only a wheelbarrow and a shovel. For the past three years, they spent several days each month during the fall to put the culverts back into place, sometimes between three to ten days at a time.

"Ay naashnsh, it's too much work to do everything," said C. Yazzie.

For Kee, the whole thing is really disappointing.

"If it (the Navajo Nation eventually) really falls under the local governance, how is it really going to work then?" asked Kee, adding that there are "too many chiefs and not enough warriors."

Each year, people from a world relief program, with people from all over the world come in and help to repair homes for the elderly. And while Kee is happy to see that elders are being helped, it still hurts her to see people from the outside having to come in and help them.

"I feel so ashamed that it takes other people from other countries to help our elders," she said.