Better to Give

Volunteer Vacations on the Navajo Indian Reservation Yield Surprising Lessons

m My legs shook; my palms were moist. I had never worked in a kindergarten classroom before.

By Vicki Wilson Photographs by Peter Schwepker HOLDING THE GIANT-SIZED BOOK, White is the Moon by Valerie Greeley, I stood in front of 20 kindergartners sitting cross-legged on their red-and-green-and-blue classroom rug. I was assigned to tutor in Ms. Lita Tallsalt's kindergarten class, and she invited me to read to the 5and 6-year-old students. I pointed to the owl, the red fox and the green frog as I read and turned the pages. My legs shook; my palms were moist. I had never worked in a kindergarten classroom before.

I had no idea how much I would learn.

A year or so ago, my husband, Matt, and I heard about a travel trend called volunteer vacations-trips where people converge worldwide to maintain hiking trails, build houses, feed the homeless or perform other community work. One opportunity in particular stood out for us: a tutoring program at Tuba City Boarding School on the Navajo Indian Reservation offered through the nonprofit organization Amizade (a Portuguese word meaning "friendship"). Participants stay in Tuba City, on the Navajo Nation, and see the sights with their Amizade program leader when not working in the schools. We scheduled our tutoring week for late September 2006.

As the vacation drew closer, I packed and unpacked three times. What did a tutor wear? What was the weather like in Tuba City? What did I know about teaching?

As upstate New Yorkers in our early 30s, Matt and I had never traveled very far west, so even the flight from Phoenix to Flagstaff seemed like part of some tour. My window on the small airplane was covered with noseprints from passengers before me who'd pressed their faces to the glass, looking out as they flew over Sedona and the rose-colored mesas. "Look!" I said every five seconds to my husband, who was already looking.

At the Flagstaff airport, Keith Chiodo, our Amizade group leader, met us with a handshake and an offer to help with the bags. We started the drive to Tuba City, on the way picking up Jeff Byam, who came in by train from Michigan. He was one of three other participants we met on the trip. Two women, one from Sedona and the other from Ohio, rounded out our small team. On Sunday, our first full day in Arizona, we visited the Grand Canyon to sightsee and get to know one another. We walked into the Canyon on the Bright Angel Trail, then back up and along the Rim Trail.

"Don't any of these trails have railings?" I asked the more experienced group members.

"Nope," they answered.

I walked as far away from the edge as possible, while still keeping up with the group.

On our first day in the classroom I was ready an hour early, pacing around my small room.

"You're more nervous now than you were at the Grand Canyon," observed Matt.

As volunteers in Amizade's Navajo Nation program, we would help teachers and students with everything from reading to tutoring in math and writing. I was irrationally afraid that I had forgotten how to do simple mathematics or write in block letters. Immediately, in the classroom, I was put to the test by a 5-yearold struggling to print an uppercase Y.

"Here," I offered, "I can help you." Kneeling at her desk, I drew a Y slowly, several times, at the top of her paper. When she picked up her pencil and drew it herself, she looked up at me for approval. She got it right on the first try and I was wondering how much it would cost to go back to college to become a teacher.

Soon, Jeff's teacher invited him to present a health lesson to his class, and my husband gave a presentation about his native England to a class of second-graders.

"Every new group of volunteers brings their own lives to the trip," said Keith. "The people who take volunteer vacation trips are some of the best people I've met. They're the most empathetic, curious people, and fun, too."

FUN with an educational bent-was a large part of our vacation. As the Navajo people, according to Amizade material, "continue to successfully adjust to contemporary mainstream circumstances," they face "the increasing challenges of cultural identity, educating their children, and economic development." So volunteers not only help in the schools, they learn about Navajo culture. One evening, a Navajo woman gave us a tour where she'd grown up on the reservation, and we watched sunset from a mesa near her land. Another evening, a Navajo storyteller and songwriter performed and answered our questions about his experience growing up in Tuba City. We ate Navajo tacos-ground meat, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese on flat bread similar to fried dough-and visited the Navajo National Monument and Monument Valley National Monument. At the Tuba City flea market, Matt and I bought a painted pottery vase from a Navajo artist.

"This here," the artist told us, pointing to the striping on the vase, "is a chief pattern." That statement led to a fascinating 20-minute discussion of the other patterns on the pot. We found openness everywhere we went.

"I was really enamored with the philosophy of life here," said Jeff. "It seems to be more in harmony with the environment and each other. It flows with the energy of life rather than fighting against it."

I felt that, too. When I finished reading White is the Moon to the kindergartners, I sat down with them and they told me about the animals they had at home. Some had goats, some had dogs and some had cats. I was no longer nervous. On our last day on the reservation, we packed in silence.

"So?" Matt asked finally, breaking the silence. "What did you think?"

"I think that at the beginning I wasn't sure I had the confidence to know I could do something like this," I answered. He nodded.

"And now?" he asked.

"I know I can." The children taught me that. All Vicki Wilson plans to leave New York state to head west more often. This was her first volunteer vacation.

Peter Schwepker is a photography instructor at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. He enjoyed working with Lita Tallsalt at the Tuba City Boarding School.For some people, idle relaxation doesn't make for the ideal vacation. If you're one of those whose idea of a vacation is taking on projects for the greater good, here are some organizations that would like to help you book your next holiday:

IF I HAD A HAMMER

Partnering with local affiliates, low-income families and citizens of developing nations to build affordable houses, Habitat for Humanity volunteers seek to wipe out substandard housing and homelessness in the United States and around the globe. PETER ENSENBERGER

I sat down with them and they told me about the animals they had at home. Some had goats, some had dogs and some had cats. I was no longer nervous.

Vacation Vocation Guide AMIZADE

Participate in "intercultural exploration and understanding through community-driven volunteer programs and service-learning programs" in global locations, including the Navajo Nation. Contact: (888) 973-4443; www.amizade.org.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA FIELDWORK OPPORTUNITIES

Get hands-on experience at archaeological sites in Arizona and around the world. Can you dig it? Contact: (617) 353-9361; www.archaeological.org.

ARIZONA BALD EAGLE NESTWATCH PROGRAM

Test your eagle-eye skills monitoring bald eagles and their habitats along the Verde and Salt rivers. Contact: (602) 789-3581; www.azgfd.gov/inside_azgfd/employment_eagle.shtml.

ARIZONA GAME AND FISH VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

Outdoor enthusiasts can help preserve and protect the land and animals they love. Contact: (602) 789-3680; www.azgfd.gov/inside_azgfd/edits/volunteer_opps.shtml.

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY GLOBAL VILLAGE TRIPS

Build some character while constructing entire communities, locally and around the world. Contact: (800) 422-4828; www.habitat.org/getinv/default.aspx.

USDA FOREST SERVICE PASSPORT IN TIME VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

Give back to the great outdoors by taking part in monitoring projects throughout Arizona's national forests. Contact: (800) 281-9176; www. passportintime.com. -JoBeth Jamison

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE

With more than 250 postings of projects worldwide, the Archaeological Institute of America's "Archaeological Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin" offers something for everyone with the urge to delve below the surface of an ancient culture. PETER ENSENBERGER