Joshua is one of nine children living in an isolated
part of the Navajo Nation near Newcomb, New Mexico.
He is the oldest child and has been taking care
of his younger siblings since he was five. He lives
with his mom and siblings in the family Hogan, on
a beautiful mesa, with a view of the mystical desert
and rugged terrain in the area.
Joshua wakes up each morning at 4:00am and relights
the family stove so the Hogan will be warm when
the other children wake up. He sleeps with all his
siblings on a large mattress which lies near the
word burning stove which is used for both cooking
and heating and even some light. He like his seven
brothers and one sister, sleeps in his clothes.
He bathes, changes clothes, studies, plays, and
does his daily chores in this one room Hogan, lacking
any privacy for his changing body. At 6:00am, Joshua
wakes up the family while his mom dresses the little
ones. There is no refrigeration and school provides
a free breakfast and lunch where the children can
receive cold milk and a balanced meal. When rising,
Joshua notices that his mom has already lit the
two hurricane lamps which provide minimal lighting
in the Hogan. The one window is dark and the day
is wintry outside. The children all bathe and head
out the door to the bus, with Joshua leading them
on their one mile hike across rough terrain to the
road.
Joshua is in the sixth grade and is interested in
science and math. He loves space and dreams that
one day he will be an astronaut and be the first
human being to step onto the planet Mars. Although
he works at school, he notices that his Anglo teacher
washes her hands each time she touches one of her
Navajo students. She is mean and mean-spirited.
She doesn’t see Joshua’s intelligence,
his handsome good looks, his humor, his effort,
or his persistence. Joshua is often ignored when
he raises his hand and usually does not let it bother
him.
Joshua and his siblings arrive home after school.
There are few toys in the Hogan and all of their
games are imaginary and require few tools. He and
his two twin brothers, Jeremiah and Jeremy, age
10, herd the sheep until it gets dark. Joshua returns
home with his brothers at sunset and helps his mom
prepare dinner which tonight is spaghetti and cold
water. He eats on paper plates since water is scarce
and must be trucked in each week. He uses about
three gallons per day, while his Anglo counterpart
in a border community uses about 205 gallons of
water per day. Joshua and his siblings are 75% more
likely to get disease and sickness because of the
unpurified water than his city counterparts. Joshua’s
family has no vehicle and a local church assists
the family in emergencies. The Navajo Transit Authority
also offers bus rides to the Public Health Hospital
in Shiprock, about 30 miles up the highway.
After dinner, Joshua and his family will watch one
hour of blurred television operated from a car battery.
The children will play and then retire early. They
sleep in their clothes huddled against each other
to protect them from the winter cold. 11 year old
Joshua has put in a long day. He lies down between
his two twin brothers, says goodnight to everyone,
and falls instantly into a deep sleep…dreaming
of a day in the future when he will step out of
a futuristic spacecraft and say,” Another
small step for a man…Another giant step for
mankind.”
Share Your Dream with Joshua
Joshua Chee lives like thousands and thousands of
other Navajo children:
In a one-room Hogan, no family breadwinner, single
parent home, no electricity, no refrigeration, no
running water or indoor plumbing, no telephones
for emergencies, no computers, and a battery operated
TV for an hour per day, if at all. The family survives
on mutton from the sheep flock during hard times,
which is a ever-present condition.
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