By ALYSSA ZERKLE
Moapa Valley Progress
April is national Child Abuse and Neglect Awareness month. What better way to raise awareness than to have a parade? That’s exactly what went on at the Moapa Paiute Community Center on Thursday morning last week.
Tribale Social Service Director Dawn Bruce, and Environmental Director Darren Daboda are among those who decided an event during kids’ spring break would be a great way to raise awareness and bring the local community together to participate in such a cause.
“We wanted families to get together to help raise awareness for prevention and intervention,” said Bruce.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs 638 Contract Social Service Outreach Program has provided funding for the annual Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) and Health Fair for the past seven years. The event combined with the Earth Day celebration which was originally put on eight years ago.
“This is all about protecting both our mother earth and our children,” explained Bruce.
Every year, tribal departments including Environmental Department, tribal law enforcement, the tribal office, and Tribal Housing transform their vehicles into colorful floats that are paraded down the street in front of the Tribal Building.
Before their grand entrance, bystanders can look around at different booths and take pamphlets from each program. The various booths outside were from different departments and organizations including the Affordable Care Act, Social Service Administration, Department of Environmental Protection, Inter-Tribal Council of NV & Domestic Violence Prevention Program, Native Workforce Development Program, Childcare Development Fund, Nevada Division of Mental Health & Development Services & Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, the Cooperative Extension, ITCH WIC Program, and Nevada Legal Services Inc.
Inside the Tribal Building, the Summerlin Lions Club provided free eye & foot screenings. They also handed out free sunglasses to attendees. Club president Al Van Gordon explained a little bit about what the Lions do.
“We help people with impaired eyesight get the care they need,” Van Gordon said. “Some people can’t afford glasses, and if they meet certain requirements they may qualify for free glasses. We provide anything from glasses to eye surgery.”
But the Lions’ services aren’t limited to just optics.
“We also do foot screenings to check people for diabetes,” said Van Gordon.
In the foot screening, club members ask participants to prop up their feet and close their eyes. The Lion will repeatedly poke the participant’s foot with a plastic filament with 10g of resistance. The participant is asked to respond if he feels the plastic against his foot.
What does this test mean exactly?
“Especially out here in the desert, some people will burn the soles of their feet, get blisters, the blisters will get infected, and pretty soon their feet can’t feel anything,” Van Gordon said. “And the loss of sensation in the feet is a sign of diabetes, plus they might need their feet amputated. But people don’t even know that! So we do a simple test which could save a limb.”
After the parade, the festivities continued with a watermelon eating contest. Participants competed with their hands behind their back and their faces plunged into watermelon slices. Gyiel Hernandez won in the 5-10 age group, Jmoni Hartt won for the 4th year in a row in the 11-14 age group, Miguel Oropeza won out of the 15-18-year olds, “Chopper” Tom was the winner in the 19-29 age group, and Vickie Simmons won out of the 50+ contestants.
This year the event was just for the tribal community, but Bruce hopes that next year the tribe can invite the rest of the Moapa Valley communities to participate.
