The people who live in the northwest corner of New Mexico consider Darlene Arviso to be a living saint.
“Everybody knows me around here. They’ll be waving at me,” she says from behind the wheel of the St. Bonaventure Indian Mission water truck. “They call me the water lady.”
That’s because Arviso hauls water for tribe members of the Navajo Nation, where, on average, residents use 7 gallons a day to drink, cook, bathe and clean. The average person in the U.S. uses about 100 gallons a day.
Arviso drives to 250 homes a month, filling residents’ plastic barrels, buckets, jars and any other containers the families have. When people see the giant yellow truck coming down the road, Navajo member Georgianna Johnson says, it’s as if they’ve seen Santa coming down the chimney.
“You know what we do? ‘The water truck’s coming! Get the buckets ready!’ We get all happy. Today’s the day I’m going to take a bath,” Johnson says.
About 40 percent of the Navajo Nation has to make their water stretch. The water here in Smith Lake comes from the St. Bonaventure Indian Mission well, about 50 miles away.
For more than three decades, the mission has provided water to this Navajo community.
But the once-a-month water truck deliveries are far from the perfect solution. The roads often become impassable in the winter, and barrels run dry. Many resort to melting snow or collecting water from livestock basins.
So the mission has sought help from George McGraw, the founder of a nonprofit called DIGDEEP. It provides water systems to developing countries.
“It really is an incredible injustice. If you’re born Navajo, you’re 67 times more likely not to have a tap or toilet in your house than if you’re born black, white, Asian- or Hispanic-American,” McGraw says.
DIGDEEP is currently working in this corner of the Navajo Nation to find a solution to provide clean, running water to Navajo families in the area as well as blankets. DIGDEEP is non-profit, so every donation is precious. All proceeds go directly to project costs and donors will receive progress reports via email. You can also donate by buying handmade Navajo blankets, bracelets or artwork through DIGDEEP’s website.
Click here to view DIGDEEP’s website, read their story and see how you can help.
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