Causes: Adult Education, Education, Educational Services, Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention

Mission: To assist and promote research-based, community-driven, sustainable development throughout the tohono o'odham nation.

Programs: Summer program: this program serves to engage youth in productive activities throughout the summer break. Prior to the existence of naaf the local residents of gu vo had already put in place a set of childcare programs to engage the youth in productive activities throughout the summer break. Naaf has built on that idea and expanded this service to incorporate children from the four communities in our educational, cultural, and fitness activities. This is a service to the parents as well, since it is not unusual to see them asking neighbors and friends to watch over their children. The program runs the entire months of june and july. Our classroom activities include math, english, stem activities, educational field trips around arizona, and o'odham classes. We also provide an arts & crafts session followed by physical education at the local health o'odham promotion program (h. O. P. P. ) facility. Our volunteers have received cpr training, which allows us to cover for the h. O. P. P. Manager in case of emergency.

virtual learning center: the high school drop out rate is among the highest in the district of gu vo for the tohono o'odham and for the nation as a whole. One of the barriers to education is the remote location of the communities. Naaf partnered with sunnyside unified school district in tucson and brought a virtual learning center (vlc) to the district. This vlc is a van that serves as a wi-fi hotspot. The van is outfitted with laptops and travels between the four villages, bringing education directly to the youth and communities. Youth who have dropped out of school are able to be re-engaged in a learning environment and register for online classes through an e2020 program. This program serves as a tool in educating the nation's most at-risk youth. Additionally, the vlc laptops are equipped with tutoring programs and academic support services. A subsection of the vlc is our early childhood reading program, tohono a'al. Through the vlc, children up to the age of five get ahead of the class through reading lessons before formal schooling even begins. The monitors of the vlc have been trained to assist users with these online tools. During the weekends, the vlc is also available to young adults who would like to work on obtaining their g. E. D.

the ged program was an initiative developed by the tohono o'odham department of education together with both the onestop and vocational rehabilitation programs based in sells. These programs seek to return people to the workforce by providing the qualifications they need to succeed in their jobs. Lack of permanent employment is a source of livelihood instability and over the last forty years the economy on the reservation has shifted towards employment in service sectors, particularly in public and tribal employment. Today service-sector employment accounts for more than half of all permanent jobs in the reservation and require a high school diploma or equivalent. Naaf was responsible for organizing the classes in gu vo, for obtaining approval from district council, and for providing a math and science instructor for the summer semester. Naaf staff was also vital in terms of promotion and advertisement of the program.

gu vo youth academic after-school program:community members and tutors from the district develop and manage the after-school program, which includes extracurricular activities designed to keep students scholastically engaged as well as physically fit. Students begin each daily session with study hour where instructors provide tutoring in reading, math, science, and even the study of computer programming and robotics. Stem activities take place every-other session. Arts and crafts classes are also part of the curriculum including painting, sewing, ceramics, and beading skills that are incorporated into the making of traditional tohono o'odham clothing, medicine pouches, jewelry, pottery, and holiday handicrafts such as cascarones. Also offered will be instruction in dance, pottery, cooking, language, and gardening. The idea is to teach students subjects such as math and science but also focus on the history and traditions of the tohono o'odham nation. The healthy o'odham promotion program (hopp) offers fitness clinics and wellness counseling to the students. In september of 2012, hopp was nationally recognized by the american diabetes association for its work towards prevention of diabetes and obesity (the second largest native american tribe, the tohono o'odham has the highest rate of adult onset diabetes in the world, with over 70% of its adult members having the disease).