Afar Pastoral Development Association (APDA)
Australian nurse Valerie Browning first went to Ethiopia in 1973 and has been living in the Afar and serving the people since 1989 after she married an Afar leader. The Afar Pastoralist Development Association (ADPA), was formed by a group of Afar leaders and continues to be run by and for the Afar people to address critical needs not being addressed by formal Government services due to the unique geography, climate, culture and lifestyle of the semi-nomadic pastoralist Afar people.
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Our connection to Valerie Browning and an alignment to the work they do on the ground and our goals, is why we have formed a strong partnership with this amazing group of people. The APDA works on a wide variety of projects to contribute to the development and wellbeing of the Afar people, many of them focusing on vulnerable women and children, including mobile health and vaccination, water provision and harvesting, maternal and child health activities, and education for Afar children.
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Gift of Hope
The Gift of Hope Program, was designed by the Fullife Foundation after Valerie highlighted the areas of great need in the communities she works in. The gift cards are a tangible and affordable way to provide customers with the opportunity to give gifts that would have a considerable impact on a person’s life.
The programs providing soap, iron supplementation, lentils and education have concluded and the ongoing focus is on providing safe birthing kits and remote immunisation.
The Gift of Hope Postcards
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$5 provides a safe birthing kit to a mother at risk in the Afar
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$5 provides soap for a household for 4 months to improve hygiene and reduce disease
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$10 provides iron supplementation for 9 months to a pregnant Afar woman
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$20 contributes towards all 4 rounds of immunisation to a child in a remote area of the Afar
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$30 provides 1 months lentils to a malnourished Afar mother so she can feed her baby
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$50 provides education and stationery to 4 Afar women
Emergency Relief 2024
Emergency Food Distribution: Following severe flooding in August 2022 in Afambo, 1,000 displaced, exhausted and injured people, mainly pregnant and lactating mothers, the elderly, and people with disabilities, received one-month food rations. Each beneficiary received 12kg of maize flour, 3kg of wheat flour, and 3kg of chickpeas. These individuals, having fled Urrogubi, were sheltering in schools and health centres in Hammadoyta and Allasoboola. APDA’s health team provided ongoing monitoring, health checks, and malnutrition screening, helping to prevent waterborne disease and malnutrition-related deaths.


Emergency Relief 2022
Info re completed project two.

Emergency Relief 2021
Information re completed project three.