For Immediate Release
Office of Mrs. Bush
May 8, 2003
Remarks by Mrs. Bush at Reach Out and Read Event Kayenta Indian Health Services
Ya'at'eeh. Thank you, Dana, Principal Baker, Superintendent
Allsbrook, and all of the students for welcoming me to the home of the
Mustangs. Thank you, First Lady Shirley, Vice President and Mrs. Dayish
for welcoming me to Tohdenasshai. This is a beautiful and blessed land
which the Navajo proudly call home. My name is Laura Bush and I'm from
the small town of Midland, Texas.
I am so glad to be here to visit with all of you and with my good
friend, Linda White, who is the CEO of the Kayenta Service Unit of the
Navajo Indian Health Services. Thank you, Linda, and all of the men and
women who work at the Kayenta Indian Health Services for your
dedication to the good health of Kayenta's families and children. I
applaud IHS for their continued accreditation and for the work doctors
and nurses are doing here through Reach Out and Read.
Through Reach Out and Read, doctors and nurses encourage parents
and caregivers to read aloud to their babies from their earliest days.
Doctors and nurses know that just as the human touch is necessary for
babies' physical and emotional growth, reading to them is necessary for
language development. During clinic visits, doctors talk with parents
and caregivers about the importance of reading and they give every
child a new book to take home. I am happy that Kayenta's Reach Out and
Read clinic provides children with books about Navajo poetry and
language.
Educating and nurturing children is one of the strongest traditions
of the Navajo people. Another strong tradition is serving in our
military. The world recognizes the Navajo Code Talkers who provided a
critical service to the United States during World War II.
Thank you, Samuel Holiday, who is here with us today, for your
service and your courage. We continue to pray for all who serve in our
military and those in Iraq. We also pray for their families and for
those who have lost loved ones. We pray especially for the family of
Lori Piestewa.
I know that the family is the core of the Navajo culture, and I've
learned that the four seasons reflect on the importance of family,
tradition and education. As a five-fingered people, children are the
center of a family, where they are surrounded and nurtured by parents
and grandparents. One of the best ways we can help nurture our children
is through education - and their education should begin before they are
even born.
The first sound a child hears is her mother's heart beat. This
sound carries a child through her entire life and is repeated in the
rhythm of traditional drum songs. When a parent reads to a baby, the
baby will grow to love the sound of her parent's voice and of hearing
stories. Reading to children not only helps them to develop, but it
comforts them as well. Children who are read to learn that reading and
stories are important - and that they are important.
We are entering the spring season, which is the direction of the
East. Spring is a time to focus on young babies and the beginning of
new life. As we wait each year for the first thunder and for mother
earth to wake the world, parents can read to their children to wake
them to words, stories and learning. If we talk to and listen to
children, read with them, and surround them with books - then we can
help them establish the skills and knowledge they need for school and
for life. And we keep alive the traditions of storytelling and oral
teachings, which are so precious in every culture.
Many parents know the joy of reading to their children, whether
during cozy moments at bedtime or breaks in a long day. Some of my
happiest memories from childhood are of the times my mother read to me.
And some of my favorite memories as a mother are of reading to my own
daughters. This is why Reach Out and Read is so great. Pediatricians
who prescribe reading are not just helping children learn to read, but
they are helping parents as well.
I want to share a story with you about my friend, Dr. Donna Bacchi,
a pediatrician in Texas. She started a reading program in her practice
and gave her very first reading prescription to a young boy with
asthma. She talked with the boy's mother about the importance of
reading and showed her how to hold her baby and a book while reading.
After a few minutes, the mom leaned over and whispered in Dr. Bacchi's
ear, "Doctor, I do not know how to read." Fortunately, Dr. Bacchi was
prepared.
She connected the mother with a local family literacy provider so
she could learn how to read - so she could read stories to her child,
and maybe even more important, the labels on her son's asthma medicine.
What an extraordinary opportunity to break the cycle of illiteracy for
one family and to enrich their lives with reading and books. This is
what Reach Out and Read does for millions of children and their
families. And it is what education does for America.
I understand soon you will be entering the direction of the South.
With summer comes preparing children for the future. The children here
are in school right now. But soon, as you grow and learn, you will go
out into the world to work or to college. Remember the words of Chief
Manuelito who said, "My grandchild, education is the ladder." He
encouraged his people to go to school and to use their skills and
education in their communities.
There are ways you can give to the Navajo community. Consider
becoming a teacher here so Navajo children will learn their language
and culture in school. The Kayenta Health Clinic needs Navajo doctors
and nurses. I understand that a new hospital will open here in a few
years. What a wonderful time to think about a career in science or
health care. Perhaps someday you will talk to parents about the
importance of reading with their babies.
Whether you work here or go off to college, remember that you are
ambassadors of the Navajo nation. Wherever you go, you can teach others
about the history and tradition of your people. That is what Navajo
poet Lucy Tapahonso does. Lucy visited the White House last year during
the second National Book Festival. During this festival, we celebrate
authors, stories, and reading. Lucy spoke about the importance of
tradition and of sharing stories and language with children.
Her words inspired everyone there, and today I hope they will
inspire all of us to continue to share the joy of books, reading and
education with children. Lucy said, "To honor our children we must
first honor our ancestors. Let us walk then into the future, bound by
the hopeful words of all our grandparents. Let us honor their wisdom
and love of language which sustains us all."
Education, reading and stories sustain us all and will lead
children home to Tohdenasshai - this land at the end of the rainbow.
Thank you and walk in beauty.
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