
Fr Dale Jamison, from St Mary Navajo Mission was our speaker at the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North Luncheon on May 8th. Fr. Dale Jamison, OFM, is the Pastor of St. Mary Navajo Mission, Tohatchi, NM.
Fr. Dale started his talk with, imagine life without running water, gas and electricity. Outhouses for toilets. Woodburning stoves are the only source of heat. walks to the mountains for wood, and to natural springs to fill containers with water for drinking, cooking and bathing. On top of these hardships, there’s food insecurity and barely enough money for clothes and other necessities. This is reality for families living in run-down trailer homes and hogans (octagonal-shaped, single-room dwellings) around Tohatchi on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico.
In the more “urban” part of town, population 1,100, it’s common for families to welcome unhoused relatives into the small cinder block homes they lease from the federal government. Most of the housing is old and in need of repair and the occupants, usually upwards of a dozen, often share one vehicle. Although the homes have plumbing and utilities, it’s a struggle to put food on the table.
FR. Dale say's Rotary can help by giving money to repair the many homes and buildings that are in disrepair at the mission.