Project Pueblo
Posted: March 15, 2016
The Navajo American Indian Reservation in Cameron, Ariz., is only three hours from the ATSU campus in Mesa, Ariz., but to the medical and dental students who participated in a Project Pueblo service trip, the area appeared more like a Third World country.
Project Pueblo is a 100 percent volunteer, student-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to helping families of the Navajo reservation. The program provides short-term, low-cost service trips to impoverished areas while also raising money and awareness for relevant projects and issues.
Spearheading Project Pueblo are ATSU students Ryan Wycliffe, OMS III, SOMA, and wife Lori Wycliffe, D3, ASDOH. Ryan and Lori met during their undergraduate years on a service trip with Project Pueblo.
“I never thought there would be so much poverty on American Indian reservations in the United States, but I’m glad we could help in a small way to make a difference,” says Lori.
The Navajo reservation is the largest American Indian reservation in the country, stretching through Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Ryan and his brother, Sean, started Project Pueblo in 2009 to provide basic needs to thousands of residents affected by an economic sanction called the Bennett Freeze.
The Bennett Freeze was the result of a lawsuit over a land dispute between the Navajo and Hopi American Indians. This sanction prevented any development in the western region of the reservation – a 2 million-acre area located about an hour north of Flagstaff, Ariz. No one in the area could build homes, repair their homes, build roads, or have running water or electricity from 1966 until the freeze was lifted in 2009.
“When the freeze was finally lifted, many families did not have the financial resources to improve their homes or to provide electricity and running water,” says Ryan.
Husband and wife duo help families in need.
Since 2009, Project Pueblo has coordinated service trips for more than 500 student volunteers, and thanks to other generous donors and volunteers, several running water systems and solar electricity systems have been installed.
“We have also repaired many homes, delivered much needed medical supplies, raised awareness, and more,” Ryan adds.
During spring break, Ryan and Lori organized 18 students from SOMA’s class of 2017 and two students from ASDOH’s class of 2017 for Project Pueblo to improve living conditions for families on the reservation. In one weekend, students built a hogan (traditional Navajo home) for a woman who had previously lived with her seven children in an uninsulated trailer.
“During an upcoming weekend trip, we plan to continue construction to help provide basic needs for families in this area,” says Ryan. “In addition, we might perform some health assessments and work with area leaders and health professionals to plan a future medical/dental trip.”
Lori and Ryan hope to return to the Navajo Nation in 2016-17, their fourth year of school, and bring more students from SOMA and ASDOH with them. They want to expand Project Pueblo’s efforts by helping organize dental clinics, medical clinics, health screenings, and health education workshops in the area.