(Just a note before I get into this week's entry... Since there is no internet connection at the Reservation, we are only able to update the blog if we leave the Reservation on the weekend, so our updates may not be as frequent as they have been in the past, but we will do our best to update it as often as possible. Since a lot has happened since our last post, this will probably be a fairly long entry and I will be putting up a number of pictures as well...)
After an eventful week of travel which included yet another blowout with the same set of tires, Amy and I arrived in Eagle Butte, SD safe and sound and ready to start volunteering with the Okiciyapi Tipi branch of Habitat for Humanity on the Cheyenne River Reservation. God really showed his awesomeness yet again allowing us to travel over 60 miles on a single back tire (verrry slowly) from a very deserted area in Minnesota to our destination for the night! So we are now parked and living at the entrance to the Habitat for Humanity neighborhood that was built by Jimmy Carter back in the 1980's and are in front of the house where the other volunteers are housed. 
The head of the Habitat chapter here on the Reservation is Jerry Farlee who is full blooded Lakota and has lived on the Reservation along with his family for his entire life. Jerry is an amazing guy who has spent much of his life doing everything that he can to improve the life of the Lakota people. He is also a spiritual leader in the Tribe and performs sweat lodge cermonies on his ranch for members of the community and for the volunteers as well.
The head of the Habitat chapter here on the Reservation is Jerry Farlee who is full blooded Lakota and has lived on the Reservation along with his family for his entire life. Jerry is an amazing guy who has spent much of his life doing everything that he can to improve the life of the Lakota people. He is also a spiritual leader in the Tribe and performs sweat lodge cermonies on his ranch for members of the community and for the volunteers as well. Before we left in July, Amy and I had done some research on the demographics of the Reservation, and we knew that statistically, this was one of the poorest areas in our country, but we were actually not prepared for the reality of what those statis
tics would look like in real life.
tics would look like in real life. Our first few minutes in town and before we ever made it to where we are now parked, we met Jerry at the site that he was working on. The home that was being refurbished for a family (which was replacing their old trailer) was a FEMA trailer from New Orleans that was shipped up to the Reservation after a family down there was done with it and had moved back into their home. We were blessed to be able to meet 
and talk with the new owners, CJ and Robin and their two children, Kailahni and Austin who were going to be moving into their new home this past weekend. We also got to meet Robin's mother and sister and some other members of the family as they excitedly followed the progress of the work.
and talk with the new owners, CJ and Robin and their two children, Kailahni and Austin who were going to be moving into their new home this past weekend. We also got to meet Robin's mother and sister and some other members of the family as they excitedly followed the progress of the work. An offshoot of the work that Jerry is doing on the Reservation is called "Renovating the Rez", which was started to try and make some of the homes more energy efficient and comfortable in the winter and summer by replacing roofs, windows, doors and siding. In talking with Jerry, some of the Lakota people are living on $350.00 per month, and in the winter particularly, can spend $300 of that money per month just heating their home. 
So the second home we ha
ve been working on is in the neighborhood shown in the pictures here, which is a pretty typical neighborhood from what we have been able to see so 
far. We are replacing the windows, doors, and siding, and are installing metal skirting around the bottom of the trailer to stop the wind and snow from cooling the underside of the trailer in the winter and to help with cooling in the summer. The home owners have already told us that they can feel a difference in the home with the work that has been done!
So the second home we ha
ve been working on is in the neighborhood shown in the pictures here, which is a pretty typical neighborhood from what we have been able to see so 
far. We are replacing the windows, doors, and siding, and are installing metal skirting around the bottom of the trailer to stop the wind and snow from cooling the underside of the trailer in the winter and to help with cooling in the summer. The home owners have already told us that they can feel a difference in the home with the work that has been done! The need here is tremendous. It is hard to imagine that this level of poverty exists in our own country. Along with the renovations, Amy has been working on some grants to try to bring in some funding to help with these projects. We will probably also be putting a plea into one of our future entries because it is remarkably inexpensive to make an enormous difference to one of the families out here. We are very honored that we have felt so welcomed into this community and look forward to building relationships with the people we meet. I ask that this week, you would keep the Lakota people in your prayers because the need is so great out here. We also wouldn't mind if you would keep the two of us in your prayers as well and will do our best to update the blog as regularly as possible. By the way, Okiciyapi Tipi means "People helping people build houses" in the Lakota language! Love you all...
Dave and Amy
Amazing stuff you guys. Also remarkable that while NOLA got the press after Katrina, these people have just been quietly living in abject poverty all along. How sad, as you said, that this exists in this country, one of the richest in the world. How do we donate so these people can get the most out of our money?
ReplyDelete