HEAL and The Nest Domestic Violence Shelter serve many different types of people who come from diverse environments and cultures. Because of this, it is important for board members and advocates to be knowledgeable about different traditions in order to be respectful and provide the best assistance to all women and children who come to the shelter.
You may have learned from past HEAL articles about the phenomena that occurs with family members of shelter staff members and volunteers. That is, when an employee or volunteer becomes involved at HEAL, their family members answer the call to serve in their own ways. In this case, Paul Long, Sr., Cultural Liaison Specialist at the Tsehootsooi Medical Center in Fort Defiance, Arizona, and the father of HEAL shift lead advocate Rozlyne Long, cheerfully agreed to do a presentation at HEAL’s annual board & staff retreat in September at the Sanctuary on the River.
Long was raised in Mentmore, New Mexico, and graduated from Ft. Hood Central Texas High School in 1976. He served in the U.S. Army from 1974 to 1977. Long is married to his wife, Rose Ann, and the two have two children and four grandchildren. He has earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Social Work, and is working on his PhD.
Apart from social work, Long has also served in many other community roles such as a coach in high school football, baseball and track, a NM certified umpire for softball, baseball and basketball, rodeo contestant and announcer, veteran commander, school board member, Certified Navajo Medical Terminology Interpreter; expert witness from the Navajo perspective and a Traditional Medicine Man in the area of The Blessing Way, Enemy Way and the Yeibechai Dance.
According to Long, his duties as the Cultural Liaison Specialist at the Tsehootsooi Medical Center include, “training on Navajo Cultural and Traditional Awareness to new incoming doctors, nurses, students, and interns, interpreting for our non-Navajo speaking customer and our elderly, conducting presentations to staff on healthcare issues from a Navajo Culture perspective, and assisting in any department or event blessings here at the hospital.” Long continued, noting the applicability of his knowledge to a shelter like The Nest, “I also do trainings, interventions, and prevention awareness in the area of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect.”
Long plans to give his presentation to the HEAL staff and Board of Directors on “The Significance of Women” and, “would like for them to know that Navajos have a lot of respect, care and honor for our women; they are very significant and important to us.” It should be a very informative lesson and supplement to the knowledge the staff have already gained about cultures and the treatment of women.
Long concluded, “I hope their take away will be how they should honor, respect, and treasure their spouse, mother, grandmother, and daughters.”