6 Safe, Eco-Friendly Homes for Pine Ridge Lakota

Christinia Eala, our Lakota project leader, is unstoppable. In her gentle, quiet way she speaks of the devastating realities on the Pine Ridge Reservation today -- the poverty, the homes poisoned with black mold, the vast, empty distances.

And, in the same breath, she speaks of her singular, hope-filled determination to shift that reality -- by providing culturally-sensitive services for abused women through her nonprofit Tiyospaye Winyan Maka. She, a Lakota elder, is familiar with every aspect of the services they provide

Safe, healthy housing on the Pine Ridge Reservation is central to her mission. And she faces an uphill battle.

I spent a month, once, at one of her work sites. She, her adult son, several European volunteers, and just one reservation Lakota man labored to build a dome home in the +100 degree heat, beset by mosquitos and chiggers, with the nearest construction materials store more than 100 miles away.

The family for which we were building had no hope and, as a self-fulfilling prophecy, told us to leave just before the roof was closed up.

The reservation Lakota man who had been helping had his own reasons: he had taken in -- rescued -- several children from various reservation families. They were all living in housing in which the walls were black with mold, causing severe health issues. This man dreamed of a "safe house" for these children.

So the project was shifted to focus on the "safe house." This man's allotted land was far from any utilities or electricity, so Christinia went to work, getting donations to set up a camp kitchen and tent housing on this beautiful pristine acreage.

She persuaded a student chapter of Engineers Without Borders to design a structure to be made primarily with materials from the site.

But two winters ago, while Christinia was recovering from heart surgery, everything was stolen -- the kitchen, the generator, all the supplies, even Christinia's old Datsun car.

Undaunted, Christinia started over, this time allying with Bryan Deans, who already had the infrastructure in place that the building project needed.

The photo above shows Christinia at the "entry" to the root cellar her volunteers built this summer as part of a demonstration project for sustainable healthy food production on the reservation.

Christinia is a lighthouse of courage and persistence. We greatly appreciate your continued support of this project.