This Saturday, a group of six local residents will rough a
36-hour drive into Mexico to deliver corn and beans to a tribe of
Tarahumara Indians.
Since 1994, the group, called Apoyo Tarahumara, has delivered
more than 100 tons of food to the Indians, who reside in Chihuahua
in northwest Mexico. The annual food deliveries benefit the
indigenous tribe that suffers from an ongoing drought.
This Saturday, a group of six local residents will rough a 36-hour drive into Mexico to deliver corn and beans to a tribe of Tarahumara Indians.
Since 1994, the group, called Apoyo Tarahumara, has delivered more than 100 tons of food to the Indians, who reside in Chihuahua in northwest Mexico. The annual food deliveries benefit the indigenous tribe that suffers from an ongoing drought.
“They have the greatest need and the least resources,” said Joe Navarro, an elementary school teacher at Sunnyslope School. Navarro will complete his ninth trip over winter break.
Apoyo Tarahumara, translated “Tarahumara support,” tries to make a trip in June and December every year.
Throughout the year, members raise around $5,000 and purchase corn and beans. They purchase the staple foods in Mexico for easier transport and to avoid travel through customs, Navarro said.
The Tarahumara Indians have suffered from a drought since 1992. Most thought the drought would be over in five or six years, Navarro said.
“That’s what caught our attention,” he said. “The Tarahumara are subsistence farmers. There’s no irrigation, no plumbing, so they rely totally on the rain.
“It’s complicated by the fact that the deforestation movement down there leads to erosion and affects the climate.”
The drought and deforestation makes it hard for the Tarahumara to grow food. Because of this lack of food, they suffer from neglect, malnutrition and lack of health care, Navarro said.
The Tarahumara have chosen to live apart from modern western culture, and are often characterized as shy and private.
They number more than 80,000, and are usually broken down into communities composed of 30 to 40 families. They are considered the most indigenous in Mexico, making up the second largest tribe in the nation, but the poorest of Mexico’s 30 million Indians.
Because of the tribe’s indigenous nature, members have no wish to move despite the harshness of the land, which includes exploitation from copper mining and danger from drug traffickers.
“This is their traditional land – they’ve lived here forever. They are the least converted of the indigenous people in Mexico,” Navarro said. “They’ve resisted Spanish. They’re trying to hold onto their traditions and culture as long as they can.”
In the past, Apoyo Tarahumara members have brought clothing for the Indians, but they refused to wear it. Now, the travelers bring them cloth so they can make their own clothes, Navarro said.
In addition to corn, beans and cloth, Apoyo Tarahumara members try to bring children’s reading books and boomboxes with batteries. If the Indians have the boomboxes, they can listen to the radio and hear when Apoyo Tarahumara is coming and distributing food.
The trip takes 11 days round-trip via car, meaning the locals will get back home right for New Year’s Eve. They pay for their own travel and expenses.
To raise funds, Apoyo Tarahumara members sell food at events, run buses to Reno and ask for donations at events, but Navarro’s biggest supporters have been fellow teachers.
Teachers are so generous, he said, with many wishing they had the time to go.
Most members of Apoyo Tarahumara got involved because they have Tarahumaran ancestry or are from Chihuahua. Navarro became involved through a friend.
“It just looked interesting,” Navarro said. “It was something I’d never done before. When you’re down there, it’s a humbling experience.
“In the U.S., we expect a lot of kudos or recognition for things we do. (When we’re there), we’re with people who still live in harmony with the Earth. I felt honored that they’d even accept me.”
From then on, Navarro said he felt a higher calling – a more personal reason to go on the trip.
“After that, I felt I had to go back – every time I go back, I get closer,” he said. “I got something out of it. We live in such a wasteful society. We’re just so wasteful and just don’t respect the Earth. I’ve tried to change my lifestyle and recycle, that sort of stuff.
“I’m trying to be more of a humble person, to think more and speak less.”
For more information on Apoyo Tarahumara or to make a tax-deductible donation, call Navarro at 634-0263.
