GOOD MORNING PINE RIDGE FAMILY!!
I want to introduce you to Melda and her family and show you what our work project will be this year.
This is Melda and one of her grandchildren.She lives on her own property near the reservation. Melda's husband passed away 8 years ago.
Our crew met Melda in 2007 and needless to say, we all fell in love with her and her family.
This is the road to Melda's place (and yes, those are the church vans - don't look board members!)
This is what you see as you approach the top of the hill. This is Melda's place.
This is the front of Melda's house - her kitchen area where she prepares the family's meals
You will notice, there is no door.
This is the view after you go through the kitchen to the other part of the house.
It is a 150 year old log cabin that has been in Melda's family for generations.
Inside you will see all sort of old photographs of the classic "Indians" that we all think of when we think of the Great Sioux Indians. These are Melda's family members.
There is no indoor plumbing at Melda's. When it snows, as it often does in South Dakota, the snow drifts can be as high as 20 ft high.
Melda and her family walk though the snow to the outhouse they have.
Because they have no door to their home, the snow often piles into the kitchen.
While most of us shovel snow from our driveways, they shovel it out of their home.
Because she lives on her own property, she does not qualify for any federal assistance to the tribe. She is one of those people who have "fallen between the cracks" of society.
And yet...
Melda never complains.
She takes each day as it comes and accepts the path she has been given in life.
And ...
she and her family are very generous.
They hold strong to the Lakota value of generosity.
They willingly share with us (strangers) what they have, be it food, company, or their culture.
Our crew has decided that its time Melda had a new kitchen and that repairs were done to the front part of her home.This summer we will demolish the front of her house and rebuild it, giving her a real kitchen with running water.
We will work on Melda's house every morning and do a VBS for the children in the afternoon.
