“As of this writing, the Aunties have sewn over 100,000 masks, and our Navajo partners, who at times have had the highest rates of infection and death from Covid-19, have sewn at least 65,000 more. We have driven the Navajo Relief Van to Apache Junction, just East of Phoenix Arizona, about once a month. It takes 1-2 weeks to gather materials and fill the van, and only a day--or three, if your radiator explodes in Yucca Valley--to transport the materials. Each load transports $5000-10,000 in materials: thousands of yards of fabric; dozens of sewing machines; boxes and boxes of cone thread and elastic spools; hundreds of bars of soap and gallons of hand sanitizer; tents for family members quarantining themselves in the hot desert; cases and bundles of N95 masks, surgical scrubs, adult diapers, and Ziploc bags; 3D printers and filament for printing face shields; furniture dollies; fifty pound sacks of rice and beans . . . . It is an endless list of pandemic necessities--a list that comes from listening to the needs of our Navajo partners.”
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LOVE AND/OR FEAR (2021)
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