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By Rob Andzik, Lalmba Board Chair
The sun shone brightly on Naturomoe hill in far southwestern Ethiopia as the Nyangatom community gathered for a celebration. There was singing, speeches filled with gratitude, and a shared feeling of hope as people from multiple nations came together to celebrate the dedication of a small, new clinic in a remote part of the Omo River Valley near the border with South Sudan. This new clinic is a place that will become a lifeline for Nyangatom families who span both Ethiopia and South Sudan and live far from the nearest official health center.
Life in this remote corner of the Omo River valley is difficult. The closest main hospital is a six-hour drive away, and the nearest Health Center is an hour down rough, dusty paths that make travel precarious, especially for the sick. During the rainy season, this route becomes nearly impassable as the dust turns into deep and slippery mud.
This reality is why Lalmba partnered years ago with Father Angel and Father David, two priests from the Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle (MCSPA). Since arriving in 2014, they have lived and worked alongside the Nyangatom, gently encouraging local leadership and building trust.
Over the years, Lalmba has provided a small amount of financial support for medical care, helping MCSPA employ a Nyangatom clinical officer, Francis, and recently a nurse, Akales, who serve this remote community. During our visit, we witnessed the necessity of this work when we visited a man in his 30s or 40s whose gradual paralysis has now left him completely unable to move. This illness has devastated his family. He can no longer tend to their livestock or bring food to his family, forcing his wife to rely solely on her small garden and pushing them to the fringe of their community. The quiet time we spent with them in their traditional grass hut brought home the harsh struggle to access even basic medical support in such a remote area.
This new dispensary is a direct and impactful response to the struggles we saw in that remote village. It was funded through Lalmba by a former Lalmba volunteer, a doctor whose service in Sudan decades ago moved him and his family to make this enduring gift. As the only dedicated medical building for over 50 kilometers in any direction, this small clinic, on the edge of a refugee village at the base of Naturomoe hill, provides Francis and Akales a place to treat injuries, deliver immunizations, and save lives. It is a sign of our shared commitment to communities at the end of the road.
We are proud to stand with the Nyangatom and our partners at MCSPA as this new chapter begins. Thank you for ensuring that hope and healing always have a place to call home.
The story of the man suffering from paralysis brings home exactly why Lalmba goes to the places we call “the end of the road.” When the nearest hospital is a six-hour drive — often impossible in the rainy season — basic care is the difference between survival and devastation for a family and even for a community.
This partnership with MCSPA and the two Spanish priest living there, Father Angel and Father David did not happen quickly. Lalmba first visited this remote region in 2016. At that time, the two priests were living in a small tent camp in the searing heat of the Omo River valley. They had been working with the Nyangatom since 2014, having previously spent a decade across the border with the Turkana tribe.
We witnessed the challenges, but we also saw their deep passion and commitment to these people. Their faithful, humble work, focused on community, has achieved incredible things. In the years the priests have lived there, two historically warring tribes — the Nyangatom and the Turkana — have begun to live in peace. That is the quiet, powerful result of long-term respect and faith driven persistence.
Since our first visit, Lalmba has provided a small grant. It has covered most of the funding that ensures dedicated Nyangatom medical staff like Francis, the clinical officer, and Akales, the new nurse, can serve their community.
On our recent visit in October of 2025, we saw the incredible progress that has been made. The priest’s mission facilities had grown on top of the hill: they now have solid, intentionally designed guest houses that are 10-15 degrees cooler than the 100-degree-plus temperatures outside and even a church. The small refugee camp growing base of Naturomoe hill had not only grown but it even had a few shops and small restaurant. It is very difficult to describe how remote this place is, and yet, for the first time, we saw how a deeper, more direct partnership with Lalmba could truly work.
This new clinic building is ready at the perfect moment. It is the steady place Francis and Akales need to do their life-saving work. Over the next year, we will be carefully figuring out how Lalmba can best proceed with our partners. Your support is an investment in this long, patient work, ensuring that hope and healing always have a home, even in the farthest reaches of the Omo Valley.
Thank you for being a steady partner in this shared commitment.