Chapter resolves to get in shape

(Special to the Times - Donovan Quintero)

Cottonwood Chapter Manager Ethelou Yazzie stands in a room full of workout equipment Jan. 8 in Cottonwood, Ariz.

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You could call it a chapter-wide New Year's resolution.

And like most resolutions, it has fizzled already - but not for lack of will.

At the urging of community health promoters at the Chinle Comprehensive Care Facility tiny Cottonwood Chapter decided to make it a little easier for its residents to get in shape.

Last fall explained Chapter Manager Ethelou Yazzie, the chapter invested in weight machines, bicycles, balance balls and other fitness equipment, and even walled off a room for the equipment in the chapter house.

Then it hired a fitness coach whose job was to whip any willing chapter resident into shape, for free.

Cottonwood residents responded in a big way to the call to get healthy. In a single day last November, the fitness coach logged 55 visits.

As with most rural areas of the Navajo Nation, "Diabetes is a big problem here," Yazzie said. "People know they need to exercise and eat better, but with the nearest wellness center a half-hour away in Chinle, most lost their resolve long before they lost their excess weight.

"The chapter wanted to do something to support our residents in living a healthier lifestyle," Yazzie said.

Unfortunately, by the time 2010 rolled around, the chapter was out of money and let the fitness coach go. Without her relentless cheerleading, people stopped visiting the little gym.

But the machines and the room are still there, and Yazzie is hopeful the same coach can be hired back.

"She's very good," she said. "People like her."

Yazzie said the chapter's sales tax receipts will be tallied next month and maybe the program can be jump-started again.

"Money talks, I guess that's what they say," she said.

In the meantime, she thinks Cottonwood residents have proven the community based approach works, and Cottonwood would be happy to share its experience with other remote chapters interested in a healthier populace.

"Navajos should be the healthiest people because of our culture," she said. "Our elders always used to tell us to get up with the sun and run so you wouldn't become lazy. We just need to get our good habits back."

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