The WATERED stands for The Water Acquisition Team for Every Resident and Every Dinè. Our organization was formed as the Covid-19 pandemic swept across the world, and the news of the dire situation on the Navajo Nation came to the attention of caring people with family living within the Nation lines.
The Navajo Nation is an American Indian territory spanning about 17,544,500 acres, occupying portions of northeastern Arizona, southeastern Utah, and northwestern New Mexico, in the United States. This interdependent community has been especially hard hit with cases of Covid-19 spreading quickly within multigenerational households, which are spread across a very rural landscape. The spread has been exacerbated by the reality of 30-40% of residents that do not have access to indoor plumbing to allow for frequent hand washing, as recommended by the CDC to help mitigate the transmission from person to person. The reasons for the lack of indoor plumbing infrastructure are varied, and largely political and monetary, but the reality is the people of the Navajo Nation can not wait for the pipeline to be built. They need the means to wash their hands as soon as possible. Thus our mission was born. The WATERED purchases and assembles portable complete hands-free hand washing stations which include:
- the portable hands-free hand washing sink unit
- a bottle of liquid hand soap
- a 5 gallon filled water jug
- a 5 gallon grey water bucket with handle
- a reusable cotton blend hand towel
- a roll of paper towels
- a roll of toilet paper
- a cleaning product to sanitize the sink unit
Each of the set’s components have been carefully considered to reflect the struggle to acquire essential household items, in a rural setting while under the restrictive conditions of a pandemic.
It is our goal to purchase, assemble, and deliver hand washing stations to be given to each household on the Navajo Nation that does not currently have access to indoor plumbing. Based on a population of approximately 175,000 Navajo Nation residents, and assuming a four person household, we estimate there are 17,500 homes without indoor plumbing. Our first donation of 110 hand washing stations has already touched the lives of families affected by Covid-19, which was made possible by the generous donations of people like you. To date, nearly $15,000 dollars and been donated by individuals through a social media fundraising campaign, and now we are ready to take the next step. In order to prepare the next batch of hand washing stations and to continue providing them until every resident, and every Dinè, has the means to wash their hands in their home we need to reach more people willing to help.
We are beginning the process of becoming a 501c3 recognized non profit and have already formalized The WATERED with the State of Arizona. This will open many more doors to allow us to reach out to organizations which support humanitarian efforts, but the process takes time and is very complicated. We want to do it right as we believe what we are doing is too important to rush. We need help now. There are families waiting for the tools we want to provide to them, and in order to keep the momentum going we need people like you to share what you have with The WATERED. Monetary donations of any size make a difference, talking to your employer about a corporate donation make a difference, sharing about our work on your social media makes a difference and even more so when you share the link to invite others to donate. We are planning future fundraisers and giving opportunities and we hope you will keep in touch. Follow us on social media and tell others about what we are doing and how you and they can help.
You can follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Watered-100562128385095/