Very recently we had the visit of the Asturian veterinarians David Iglesias, Esteban Iglesias and Carlos Iglesias to Nyangatom, Ethiopia. Their last visit was in 2019, since then they could not come due to the pandemic and local sociopolitical problems. Once again, they have resumed the annual deworming campaign for the Nyangatom animals.

The team has had the significant help of local veterinary assistants and the support of the mission team.

It has been about 10 days of intense work and more than 15,000 goats and sheep have been dewormed. Many more could have been done, but due to the severe drought that is currently hitting the Horn of Africa, many of the herds and their herdsmen have migrated to mountainous grazing areas located north of the Nyangatom region, within the Omo national park, where there is no accessibility.

Despite this, we are very happy with the result and with the good reception by many local herders. We have been able to successfully complete the areas of Kakuta, Lorau, Lomuria, Naturomoe and Kaderinyang, benefiting about 5,000 people.

In addition, the veterinarians were able to carry out castrations of dogs, which will help reduce diseases with a high incidence in the area transmitted by these animals to humans, such as tapeworms, hydatid cysts, rabies and others.

We have experienced a multitude of anecdotes in a short time, and we have had very direct contact in the daily life, both full of difficulties and joys, of this very authentic Nyangatom people.

We thank the veterinary team from Spain, and all those people and institutions that have supported this much-needed project, remembering that the health of human beings is closely linked to the health of animals.

Thank you very much!

Fr. Angel Valdivia. MCSPA

A day like today just 8 years ago, we blessed the Kakuta mission. It was the first Catholic mission in Ethiopia’s Nyangatom land.

From the year 2011 to 2013, Father David and I were often traveling to Nyangatom from Lokitaung, Turkana.

We usually came and went. Our stays were short and lasted as long as our drinking water and food lasted.

The year 2014 was when we would finally “burn our ships” and we would no longer turn back. After being camped for a few months in the compound of the government’s dispensary in Kakuta, and from where all our belongings were stolen in August, on November 24th we moved our large tents while they were set up, between 6 people, almost like a Holy Week processional image, from the dispensary to the mission.

After the blessing of the compound according to the Catholic rite, the elders blessed us in the Nyangatom style. We ate goat and drank the traditional epun (coffee husk infusion).

Today the Kakuta mission houses the St John XXIII – Ekisil mother and child center, where 50 preschool children learn hygiene habits, eat breakfast and lunch, in addition to receiving a quality education!

These last eight years have flown by. At the same time, it gives us the feeling of having already lived several lives here: both good and bad times! Always being grateful, with the firm hope that it was a mission from God, trusting in Jesus Christ, who from the first moment “guided our steps along the path of La Paz”.

Alakara lowoi!

Angel Valdivia MCSPA

I have been lucky enough to spend ten days in Ethiopia working with Luz, Lourdes, and Blanca. Although the socio-political situation is not entirely hopeful. Ten days in which I have not worked on the usual, ten days of preparing the new government agreement, and the entire 2021 audit, because even though there is COVID-19, the years continue to pass. Ten days in which we continue to see that insatiable desire to try to give the best of each one. Ten days after nine years of “his hand” I continue to see people move forward. Bearing in mind that education is the most powerful thing we could offer to the generations that follow us; that human rights, in many places, are scarce; and that communities who fight for it remain unbreakable.

Zena and her mother continued without giving up. Life awaits them while they eagerly await life, but they do not sit down and wait. They wait while moving, going to and from hospitals. From the program for the malnourished to hugging Lourdes, to thanking Tigist, who are proud of what they have been achieving.

Abebe is calm, happy, doing puzzles (doing and undoing boxes too), walking, eating alone and well, enjoying his classmates, teachers, and mother. Soon, he will be taller than all of us and will no longer be able to sit on our laps as he enjoys doing while crossing his legs as Alemu does.

The other Alemu, the builder, has made a handrail for Zenabu to walk on. At the end of the exercise, he got a bench to rest and laugh, while the teachers applauded him for his great effort.

With a great effort just like all of them, Enat never left them behind. She is the head and the feet of the program for the malnourished; she knows the babies and their families. She weighs, measures, and advises them. She feels so much joy when she releases those who achieve ‘the green’ from the program. She encourages them to continue fighting to go from black to red, from red to yellow, and to reach that much-desired green. 

Many families are so grateful and happy to see us. We have spent all these days eating in the homes of workers, and friends from the center. Shiro, Kai wot, Alicha, Dinich, Kefto… nonstop. The families were so grateful to see us, be with us, and share with us. We are filled with so much gratitude (not so much our stomachs).

The wells continue to generate and improve life. It is necessary to check that they do not break, that they are maintained, and that the structures remain strong. There is Debelo´s area, and now Jesus who will be working with him hand-in-hand to give each other strength and energy.

The special need room, the classes, the kitchen, the dairy (with two pregnant cows), the great team of watchmen, the adolescents who are now scouts, and all the gear at Muketurri continues to turn well as a team, with respect and desire to continue to grow in this great community that all of us have formed.

Warm hugs!

Popy García-Ramos

The Valencian Communication Agency Alberto Pla premiered on April 15th the documentary “I want to be like Genet” for the Valencian NGO Moss Solidaria and the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle in Ethiopia.

The project of this documentary arose after many conversations in Ethiopia about the strength of Ethiopian women in the face of adversity. What today would be called their resilience.

In this documentary, Genet, a 22-year-old girl, tells her story of overcoming adversity and her vision of how some of us can bring out the best in others.
Mari Olcina, from the NGO Moss Solidaria, and Lourdes Larruy, from the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle, present the activities carried out by MCSPA in the region of Muketuri, on the Ethiopian high plateau, together with the women who are at the forefront of each activity:

Enat, in charge of the educational classroom for children with disabilities and responsible for the program of care for children with malnutrition; Friwot, preschool teacher at the San José Mother and Child Centre; Yitayish, a former student at the “Maite Iglesias” students’ residence and Deribe, responsible for one of the children’s canteens in the area.

All of them women full of strength and with a great sense of solidarity, who, over the years, have grown and have become references of hope and strength for everyone.

Many volunteers, visitors and supporters have been moved by watching this documentary, recognizing familiar faces, and seeing the evolution of the projects in the 13 years since the MCSPA began its presence in Muketuri. 3,000 views in just one week of the documentary being available.

We hope that this documentary will contribute to the culture of solidarity proposed by Pope Francis in “Frattelli Tutti”, to put us in the place of those who have been born in a part of the planet where survival is a daily struggle.

We would like to thank all the people who have collaborated with their intellectual and economic means, volunteers from Spain, Chile, Mexico, and so many people from numerous places who have us in their prayers.

Lourdes Larruy, MCSPA.

The documentary is available at the following link: https://youtu.be/MPHNO9z8m9c