The majority of Americans take much for granted. Numerous countries around the world lack the resources that are ever present in the United States.
As a society electricity is something that we take for granted. Little thought goes into flipping a switch to illuminate a room or pressing a button to turn the television on.
However, the luxury of electricity isn’t granted to everyone who lives in the United States. Navajo families who live in parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah are without electricity.
According to Deenise Becenti, a spokeswoman for the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, approximately 15,000 Navajo do not have electricity.
Families have inhibited these lands for generations so they oppose the idea of moving to modern suburbs or even closer to each other for easier access to electricity.
Navajo families have had to improvise in order to maintain a modern lifestyle. Some park their cars close to their homes so they can use the car battery to power television sets. Others use generators to charge cell phones and power appliances while others use solar power to generate light.
Recently, however, a $4.8 million project is in the works to bring electricity to 63 Navajo homes. More than 75 miles of power poles and electricity lines have been installed which should make the lives of the Navajo people less difficult.
“Everyone’s dream is a refrigerator and a new stove,” Laverne Etsitty, a resident in the LeChee area, said.
The little things most people take for granted are the dream of many people around the world and in the United States.