Desert Angel

Reporter: Michael Usher
Producer: Stephen Taylor

There sure is plenty of variety in being a 60 Minutes reporter. Last week, he was in the frozen north, this week, Michael Usher is off to the hottest place on earth.

A place where the temperature routinely sits in the 50s and often hits 60. Michael’s going to meet one of our unsung national treasures.

A woman called Valerie Browning, an Australian nurse who's dedicated her life to a tribe of nomads in the Ethiopian desert. They're among the poorest people in the world, and life for them is a harsh and punishing experience.

But where you would see tragedy and despair, Valerie sees beauty and hope. And you know what, her enthusiasm’s infectious.

Story contacts:

You can donate to support Valerie Browning and the Afar people of Ethiopia in a number of ways.

If you have any questions about your donation or the work of the Valerie Browning and the Afar people please call AngliCORD on (03) 9495 6100 during working hours from Monday to Friday.

Full transcript:

STORY -

MICHAEL USHER: It's unbearably hot, uncomfortably bumpy and unbelievably spectacular. Welcome to the Ethiopian desert, to one of the harshest, most inhospitable places imaginable. This is where the Afar nomads live, and our first encounter with them is a tense one. These men are still fighting other people around here?

AFARI MAN SPEAKS: There is a conflict between Afar and Arisa.

MICHAEL USHER: The Afar people are under threat, including from nearby warring tribes. So assuring these men we're friend, not foe, is important. So this time of the day these men are out patrolling? They're making sure their village is protected?

AFARI MAN SPEAKS: Ah, yes, protects the village.

MICHAEL USHER: A few hundred kilometres further on, and we're much closer to finding what we've come for. In these parts, Valerie Browning has an almost mythical presence. But out of the shimmering haze, that dazzle of bright orange and blue is very real. Valerie is a 59-year-old Australian woman with the energy of a teenager, and the heart of a saint. Hello Valerie.

VALERIE BROWNING: Hi Michael, is it Michael?

MICHAEL USHER: It is, it's been quite a journey, it's good to see you.

VALERIE BROWNING: Really, welcome. Welcome to Afar, welcome to where we are, who we are.

MICHAEL USHER: Thank you so much. Home for the Afar nomads is anywhere within this 500km swathe of northern Ethiopia, bordered by Djibouti and Eritrea. And for the last 25 years, this land has also been Valerie Browning's home.

VALERIE BROWNING: I'd love to have been born a nomad. I'd love to have been born living in an Afar house. Yeah, I think they have a great life, I really do.

MICHAEL USHER: Where Valerie sees prosperity and hope, at first, all I see is poverty and neglect. But the small aid group she runs is helping save the Afar people by trying to conquer the worst of third world conditions.

VALERIE BROWNING: The greatest killers in Afar are malaria, definitely and then, of course, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, pneumonia, these are all big killers. Measles is a killer.

MICHAEL USHER: How many children die?

VALERIE BROWNING: One-in-three die before they reach the age of five.

MICHAEL USHER: One in three?

VALERIE BROWNING: One in three.

MICHAEL USHER: Here, the basics we take for granted can never be guaranteed. It's often days between a solid meal. And the water - we wouldn't let our animals drink it. I wanted to ask you about this. What the hell is this?

VALERIE BROWNING: This is their drinking water, Michael, and this is it. I mean they don't have another water, and as they say, it gives them 'bagi asra' which is terrific pain in the stomach. They have bloody diarrhoea from it.

MICHAEL USHER: It's just filth.

VALERIE BROWNING: They've got nothing else, they've got nothing else.

MICHAEL USHER: And when you think it can't get any tougher, remember the heat. Just how anything or anyone survives out here is beyond me. It's just so hot, at times it's hard to breathe. For a soft Westerner like me, I reckon I'd be lucky to last a day on my own. On a hot day, the temperature soars to 60 degrees. 50, believe it or not, is about average this time of year. And they call that a fine day. You can see why the Afar are regarded as the greatest survivors. No other people live in such constant, extreme heat anywhere on earth.

VALERIE BROWNING: The Khamsuon winds, when they hit, it's like you know, it's burning the whole face, it's burning everything.

MICHAEL USHER: It's like a furnace.

VALERIE BROWNING: It is, it's like a furnace, yes.

MICHAEL USHER: So what's cold to you?

VALERIE BROWNING: 30 is OK but below 30 is horrible.

MICHAEL USHER: Ethiopia is about as far away as you can get from where Valerie grew up - Armidale in country NSW. But in the early '70s, a friend convinced this young and naive nurse to go and help the poor in northern Africa. Over the next decade she worked all over the region, but it was the plight of the Afar nomads which touched her most. And it still does. Are you worried about the future of the Afar people?

VALERIE BROWNING: Desperately worried. I think they are, for the world, an expendable people. Afar are on that list of becoming extinct.

MICHAEL USHER: That must break your heart?

VALERIE BROWNING: It does, and that's the main reason to fight on. We must fight on faster and harder because we must win, they mustn't become extinct.

MICHAEL USHER: No-one is exactly sure, but there are about a million Afar nomads. Their worldly possessions fit easily on the back of a camel, their simple houses dot the landscape. Would they be kind enough to let us have a look inside their house?

MICHAEL USHER: Around here, Valerie's no outsider no missionary, or Western do-gooder.

VALERIE BROWNING: These are sticks which are made into a dome shape and tied together.

MICHAEL USHER: She has well and truly embraced the Afar people and their way of life.

MICHAEL USHER: This is what you like, your favourite?

VALERIE BROWNING: I love it, love it, love it, I love camel milk too much. I don't know when to stop, it's disgusting.

MICHAEL USHER: It's your indulgence, is it? And where there's Afar, there's always a friend and hospitality to be found.

MICHAEL USHER: It doesn't get any better for Valerie than this - the great luxury of camel's milk.

VALERIE BROWNING: Michael try - this is really great.

MICHAEL USHER: And to be offered a taste is an honour you don't refuse. Literally fresh from the camel.

VALERIE BROWNING: Afar beer!

VALERIE BROWNING: You've done it, you've got it on the nose.

MICHAEL USHER: There's one thing that strikes you about the Afar, for all their struggle to survive out here, they remain a happy, proud race of people. And when the word goes out Valerie's got some guests in town, they come from everywhere to celebrate. It's here we meet Ismael - a fine dancer and Val's husband for the last 20 years. She does some amazing work out there that we've seen.

ISMAEL BROWNING: Yes, yes, she's, you know, her whole life is work, whole her life to do something good. And this will be nursing room.

VALERIE BROWNING: The nurses room.

MICHAEL USHER: Truth is, Ismael and Valerie both do good work. This Muslim man and Christian woman make quite a team.

VALERIE BROWNING: We could fit 10 beds easily.

MICHAEL USHER: Over the years, their organisation, the Afar Pastoral Development Association, has trained over 800 local teachers, nurses and community workers. And while it's run on next to nothing, even out here, in the middle of nowhere, the financial crisis has hit hard.

VALERIE BROWNING: One glove! That's not good. We should have two. We're really up against the wall at the moment.

MICHAEL USHER: Are you despondent about that, or do you have hope?

VALERIE BROWNING: You can't be despondent. If you're despondent then, you know, that's where life finishes.

MICHAEL USHER: This family dad, mum, their toddler son and baby daughter, have walked for days to find Valerie. She's their only hope because their baby is dying.

VALERIE BROWNING: She's been sick since birth according to them. Come on Aishy, hang in there my love.

MICHAEL USHER: Do you want me to hold on?

VALERIE BROWNING: 3.4, shall we say 3.4?

MICHAEL USHER: Yeah, 3.4.

MICHAEL USHER: But at 8 months old, the baby should be two or three times this weight. Valerie organises some medicine, but more importantly, some food.

VALERIE BROWNING: It's excellent stuff.

MICHAEL USHER: And she's taking it?

VALERIE BROWNING: Yeah, she's taking it, she's taking it.

MICHAEL USHER: She is starving.

VALERIE BROWNING: She's hungry, she's hungry, yeah.

MICHAEL USHER: In 2009, to see a baby so close to death because of a lack of food, should make us all angry, but I just feel helpless. I just find this so upsetting to see but you're right in there, you deal with it straight away.

VALERIE BROWNING: Yeah because we've got it all the time. I mean, as I said to you the other day, you don't really in the West know, what is death. We know it daily.

MICHAEL USHER: While she spends much of her time looking after the Afar, she's also got another role - mum. Rammid is Valerie and Ismael's very active 7-year-old son. While on the other side of the world, the Central Coast of NSW, is their 18-year-old daughter, Aisha.

AISHA BROWNING: I miss my parents. Um, the people there, especially my friends.

SCHOOL TEACHER: If we're thinking about a graph or graphing it...

MICHAEL USHER: Earlier this year, Valerie and Ismael made a tough call, deciding Aisha should leave Ethiopia and finish her high school education in Australia. AISHA ON VIDEO: Hi Mum, just want to say that I really miss you and I hope work is going well.

MICHAEL USHER: The separation has been painful for everyone, especially mother and daughter,

AISHA BROWNING: I wish I was there, seriously mum.

MICHAEL USHER: So we were only too pleased to play video postman.

AISHA BROWNING: Hi to everyone, especially Medina and Raami.

VALERIE BROWNING: She's in another world, isn't she?

AISHA BROWNING: Thank you. I hope to see you soon. Love you guys, bye.

VALERIE BROWNING: Wow. What a thing you've brought me. My goodness! It really stops you still, to think of your own reality like that, I mean I'm rushing today to speak to the health bureau, to speak to the government and there's my daughter in front of me. Wow!

MICHAEL USHER: For a woman who gives so much to the Afar people, it's touching to see Valerie Browning take a brief moment to think about her own family. Not that you'd ever hear any regret or complaint about what she's given up over the years. Doing your work here means incredible sacrifice on your behalf, doesn't it?

VALERIE BROWNING: No, I don't agree with that.

MICHAEL USHER: Not a sacrifice?

VALERIE BROWNING: No, not at all, it's a pleasure and an absolute privilege. I'm going to say, I think I've got a better life than you have. You and your children and your wife OK, and I wish for you that you were here.

MICHAEL USHER: So you think I'd find peace and happiness out here?

VALERIE BROWNING: Absolutely. Look, I've learnt what is poverty. I've learnt what is extreme difficulty. You didn't learn that, you haven't had that lesson and you're deprived because of that. My dream is maybe 5, 6, 7 goats.

MICHAEL USHER: This is your idea of heaven?

VALERIE BROWNING: This is it, this is it.

MICHAEL USHER: Out here, retired!

VALERIE BROWNING: Yes! One of those little houses on the hill. Me and the goats and that's it, that's what I really want.

MICHAEL USHER: But not anytime soon, she's too busy to slow down. As we parted, Valerie Browning was loading medicine onto a cranky camel and heading out to a remote Afar village. A day-long trek, on foot, in the unbearable heat. There is just no stopping this wonderful woman.

VALERIE BROWNING: I can do as fast as any man. I can do as fast as anybody and I enjoy it, I can do 50, 60km a day and I'm alright.

MICHAEL USHER: 50 or 60km a day?

VALERIE BROWNING: Yeah, 10-12 hours walk a day is good. Who knows? I might die tomorrow. We can't be predicting anything, but I accept that too. But I hope I clean up a few messes in the office before I die.

MICHAEL USHER: Bit of work to do yet?

VALERIE BROWNING: Yeah, mmm.