Valerie Browning

Last updated

Valerie Browning AM (born 1950) is an Australian nurse who is known for her work with Afar people in Ethiopia. [1] She founded the Afar Pastoral Development Association and the Barbara May Hospital. [2]

Contents

Background

Browning was born in southern England but raised in an Anglican family in Armidale, New South Wales where her father, a former British Army officer, was a horticulturalist and her mother a nurse with 8 children. In the 1960s she was sent by her parents to nursing school in Sydney at the age of 16 or 17, because her large family struggled financially. She was later enlisted on graduation from Royal Alexandra Hospital and midwifery training by a fellow nurse Rowene Brooker, on a scheme for medical personnel to support victims of the 1973 Ethiopian famine. [3] The two knew nothing of Ethiopia or African life, and left Australian ten days later and travelled straight from Addis Ababa to the East African Rift and down into the Danakil Desert, nomadic Afar country, caring for malnourished and sick people.

Outraged by the suffering she witnessed, she continued working in and fundraising for the region, notably in Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea, [4] [5] and she has also worked in Sudanese refugee camps. In those years, she financed her trips by working part-time in Sydney, at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne, and in Saudi Arabia. At various times she was declared persona non-grata in Ethiopia and Djibouti for reporting on human rights abuses. [6]

She settled full-time in northern Ethiopia with Afar people following her marriage in 1989, and after more than 35 years in the region and the town of Logia is still helping Afar with basic needs of life such as safe child birth and healthcare [5] based from the Barbara May Hospital, which receives international funding. Her Association has aided access to education and healthcare, including childhood vaccination programs, even in very most remote areas. [7] Her work has carried on despite the Ethiopian Civil War and the more recent Tigray War, and various other conflicts affecting Tigray, Amhara, and the surrounding region which have negatively affected local people. [8]

Recognition

In 1999, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to international humanitarian aid. [9]

She won Rotary International's The One Award in 2012.

Personal

Browning married an elder of an Afar clan, Ismael Ali Gardo, in 1989, having first met in 1986. [10] [4] Their daughter Aisha was born in 1991, and works as a nurse in Sydney. She has two adopted sons, Rammid (2002) and Nabil (2014), both of whom live in Ethiopia. [5] She is a practicing Christian, but is opposed to much Christian missionary activity in Africa. [7]

Her nephew is Dr Andrew Browning AM, obstetrician and gynaecologist, who conducts obstetric fistula operations and is based in Amhara, Ethiopia. [11]

Book

Her book, Maalika, My life among the Afar nomads of Africa was published in 2009, [12] becoming a bestseller in Australia.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Ethiopia</span> Administrative units of Ethiopia

The government of Ethiopia is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal parliamentary republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. The prime minister is chosen by the lower chamber of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. The judiciary is more or less independent of the executive and the legislature. They are governed under the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia. There is a bicameral parliament made of the 108-seat House of Federation and the 547-seat House of Peoples' Representatives. The House of Federation has members chosen by the regional councils to serve five-year terms. The House of Peoples' Representatives is elected by direct election, who in turn elect the president for a six-year term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tigray People's Liberation Front</span> Left-wing nationalist political party in Ethiopia

The Tigray People's Liberation Front, also known as the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist, paramilitary group, and the former ruling party of Ethiopia. It was classified as a terrorist organization by the Ethiopian government from May 2021 until its removal from the list in March 2023. In older and less formal texts and speech it is known as Woyane or Weyané.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Ethiopia</span>

The languages of Ethiopia include the official languages of Ethiopia, its national and regional languages, and a large number of minority languages, as well as foreign languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian Australians</span> Ethiopians who resides in Australia

Ethiopian Australians are immigrants from Ethiopia to Australia and their descendants. However, as Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic country with significant inter-ethnic tensions, not all individuals from Ethiopia accept the label "Ethiopian", instead preferring to identify by their ethnic group. In particular, various Oromo people use the term 'Oromo Australian' instead. In contrast, there are many individuals who prefer to label themselves as Ethiopian Australians. This is because they oppose labelling themselves based on their ethnicity as they see it as divisive and politicising their ethnic identity. This is common among the Amharic-speaking community along with ethnically mixed individuals, compared to others who stand by their ethnic identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sahle-Work Zewde</span> President of Ethiopia since 2018

Sahle-Work Zewde is an Ethiopian politician and diplomat who has served as the 5th president of Ethiopia since 2018, the first woman to hold the office. She was elected as president unanimously by members of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly on 25 October 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abiy Ahmed</span> Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 2018

Abiy Ahmed Ali is an Ethiopian politician who is the current Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 2018 and the leader of the Prosperity Party since 2019. He was awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize "for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea". Abiy served as the third chairman of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) that governed Ethiopia for 28 years and the first person of Oromo descent to hold that position. Abiy is a member of the Ethiopian parliament, and was a member of the Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), one of the then four coalition parties of the EPRDF, until its rule ceased in 2019 and he formed his own party, the Prosperity Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prosperity Party</span> Political party in Ethiopia

The Prosperity Party is a ruling political party in Ethiopia that was established on 1 December 2019 as a successor to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front by incumbent Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tigray War</span> Armed conflict in Ethiopia from 2020 to 2022

The Tigray War was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. It was a civil war that was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between forces allied to the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) on the other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic discrimination in Ethiopia</span>

Ethnic discrimination in Ethiopia during and since the Haile Selassie epoch has been described using terms including "racism", "ethnification", "ethnic identification, ethnic hatred, ethnicization", and "ethnic profiling". During the Haile Selassie period, Amhara elites perceived the southern minority languages as an obstacle to the development of an Ethiopian national identity. Ethnic discrimination occurred during the Haile Selassie and Mengistu Haile Mariam epochs against Hararis, Afars, Tigrayans, Eritreans, Somalis and Oromos. Ethnic federalism was implemented by Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) leader Meles Zenawi and discrimination against Amharas, Ogaden, Oromos and other ethnic groups continued during TPLF rule. Liberalisation of the media after Abiy Ahmed became prime minister in 2018 led to strengthening of media diversity and strengthening of ethnically focussed hate speech. Ethnic profiling targeting Tigrayans occurred during the Tigray War that started in November 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual violence in the Tigray War</span>

Sexual violence in the Tigray War included, according to the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, people forced to rape family members, "sex in exchange for basic commodities", and "increases in the demand for emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War crimes in the Tigray War</span>

All sides of the Tigray War have been repeatedly accused of committing war crimes since it began in November 2020. In particular, the Ethiopian federal government, the State of Eritrea, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Amhara Special Forces (ASF) have been the subject of numerous reports of both war crimes and crimes against humanity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Famine in northern Ethiopia (2020–present)</span> Famine occurred during the Tigray War

Beginning with the onset of the Tigray War in November 2020, acute food shortages leading to death and starvation became widespread in northern Ethiopia, and the Tigray, Afar and Amhara Regions in particular. As of August 2022, there are 13 million people facing acute food insecurity, and an estimated 150,000–200,000 had died of starvation by March 2022. In the Tigray Region alone, 89% of people are in need of food aid, with those facing severe hunger reaching up to 47%. In a report published in June 2021, over 350,000 people were already experiencing catastrophic famine conditions. It is the worst famine to happen in East Africa since 2011–2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tigrayan peace process</span> Process of ending the Tigray War

The Tigrayan peace process encompasses the series of proposals, meetings, agreements and actions that aimed to resolve the Tigray War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tigray Defense Forces</span> Nationalist armed group in Ethiopia

The Tigray Defense Forces, colloquially called the Tigray Army, is a paramilitary group located in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. It was founded by former generals of the Ethiopian Military in 2020 to combat federal forces enforcing national government mandates in the Tigray region, culminating in 2020 with the outbreak of the Tigray War. The TDF has made use of guerilla tactics and strategies. Human rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported that the TDF has committed war crimes against civilians including gang rape and extrajudicial killing during their occupation of both the Afar and Amhara regions. According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice, TDF combatants have been found liable for upwards of 540 civilians casualties. as of 28 December 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present)</span> Episode of intrastate conflicts during Abiy Ahmeds administration

The ongoing Ethiopian civil conflict began with the 2018 dissolution of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (ERPDF), an ethnic federalist, dominant party political coalition. After the 20-year border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, a decade of internal tensions, two years of protests, and a state of emergency, Hailemariam Desalegn resigned on 15 February 2018 as prime minister and EPRDF chairman, and there were hopes of peace under his successor Abiy Ahmed. However, war broke out in the Tigray Region, with resurgent regional and ethnic factional attacks throughout Ethiopia. The civil wars caused substantial human rights violations, war crimes, and extrajudicial killings.

This Timeline of the Tigray War is part of a chronology of the military engagements of the Tigray War, a civil war that began in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia in early November 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ENDF National Unity Offensive</span> 2021 offensive as part of the Tigray War in Ethiopia

The ENDF National Unity Offensive was an military offensive in the Tigray War launched by the Ethiopian military (ENDF) and pro-government forces to recapture territory in the Amhara and Afar regions being occupied by the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF). Gendarmerie regional forces and militias from Afar and Amhara had mobilized thousands of fighters and joined the offensive. The ENDF and its allies were able to push TDF forces back from Debre Sina, Amhara to Alamata, Tigray (≈400 km). The Ethiopian government announced the campaign for national unity was a success and had been completed on 23 December 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of Amhara people</span>

Since the 1990s, the Amhara people of Ethiopia have been subject to ethnic violence, including massacres by Tigrayan, Oromo and Gumuz ethnic groups among others, which some have characterized as a genocide. Large-scale killings and grave human rights violations followed the implementation of the ethnic-federalist system in the country. In most of the cases, the mass murders were silent with perpetrators from various ethno-militant groups—from TPLF/TDF, OLF–OLA, and Gumuz armed groups.

The 1995 Ethiopian Federal Constitution formalizes an ethnic federalism law aimed at undermining long-standing ethnic imperial rule, reducing ethnic tensions, promoting regional autonomy, and upholding unqualified rights to self-determination and secession in a state with more than 80 different ethnic groups. But the constitution is divisive, both among Ethiopian nationalists who believe it undermines centralized authority and fuels interethnic conflict, and among ethnic federalists who fear that the development of its vague components could lead to authoritarian centralization or even the maintenance of minority ethnic hegemony. Parliamentary elections since 1995 have taken place every five years since enactment. All but one of these have resulted in government by members of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) political coalition, under three prime ministers. The EPRDF was under the effective control of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which represents a small ethnic minority. In 2019 the EPRDF, under Abiy, was dissolved and he inaugurated the pan-ethnic Prosperity Party which won the 2021 Ethiopian Election, returning him as prime minister. But both political entities were different kinds of responses to the ongoing tension between constitutional ethnic federalism and the Ethiopian state's authority. Over the same period, and all administrations, a range of major conflicts with ethnic roots have occurred or continued, and the press and availability of information have been controlled. There has also been dramatic economic growth and liberalization, which has itself been attributed to, and used to justify, authoritarian state policy.

References

  1. ↑ "Fear is a useless thing - Centre for Public Christianity". www.publicchristianity.org. 18 September 2019.
  2. ↑ "Valerie Browning AM | Barbara May Foundation". barbaramayfoundation.com.
  3. ↑ "How Aunty Val became the 'Afar Angel'". ABC listen. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  4. 1 2 Baker, Emily (21 August 2017). "Valerie Browning speaks to Radford College students". The Canberra Times.
  5. 1 2 3 Doherty, Megan (22 December 2015). "Valerie Browning - the angel of the African desert comes home to the excess of a Christmas in Australia". The Canberra Times.
  6. ↑ "A selfless life". The Age . 10 May 2008. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023.
  7. 1 2 "Sight Magazine - DEVELOPMENT: VALERIE BROWNING'S EXTRAORDINARY LIFE AMONG THE AFAR PEOPLE OF NORTHERN ETHIOPIA". www.sightmagazine.com.au. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "Valerie Browning on ABC Radio National with Indira Naidoo - Barbara May Foundation". barbaramayfoundation.com. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  9. ↑ "Ms Valerie Elizabeth Browning". It's An Honour. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  10. ↑ "Nurse's life among nomads". Stuff. 30 November 2009.
  11. ↑ "A Doctor in Africa - Andrew Browning's two decades of caring for African women". ABC listen. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  12. ↑ Browning, Valerie; Little, John (2009). Maalika : my life among the Afar nomads of Africa. Sydney: Pan Macmillan. ISBN   978-0-330-42474-5. OCLC   277140754.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.