MEET PETER & KAREN NALOS
Peter earned his B.S. and M.D. degrees from the University of Washington and then pursued his Internal Medicine residency at the University of California-San Diego. Once he completed his residency, he was accepted as a Fellow into the Cedars-Sinai Cardiology program, where he was elevated to the Chief Fellow in both Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology. An important and emotional moment for Peter was when his father came to visit him at Cedars-Sinai; seeing his son working at a Jewish faith-based hospital made him incredibly proud. His father also returned to Cedars in 2002 for heart bypass surgery.
Peter and Karen met years ago in the Bakersfield Memorial Hospital ICU while she was the nurse caring for Peter’s heart surgery patient. They married in 1993.
BY LINDA GRIESS PHOTOGRAPHY BY VALDOPHYE PHOTOGRAPHY
Karen, a registered nurse, is a partner in Kern County Forensic Services (KCFS). In her work, she performs examinations of sexual assault victims.
Karen’s official title in her role is what’s referred to as “SANE,” an acronym for sexual assault nursing examiner. Karen and her team are contacted by the
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MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS
Showing their compassion for humankind both here in Bakersfield and across the globe
Peter, wearing his school superintendent “hat”
Outside of their traditional careers, Peter and Karen have lived a life that has evolved from a passion for their hobbies and pastimes to a passion to improve the lives of global humankind. And here’s how it started. Peter, a former big-game hunter, has been to Africa 20 times and has been on nine safaris. All of this was part of life’s preparation for the work he does now. At one point in time, while on safari, he visited villages in Africa and saw children living within the jungles of Cameroon. Meeting these people up close, he asked the residents, “Are any of your children ill?” Peter shares, “At least 20 women rushed toward me with kids they wanted me to see. It created a lot of emotional turmoil for me. I felt like I was struck, and I heard Jesus’s voice, “If you want to see my face … you will see it in the faces of African children.”
Peter and Karen had been attending Valley Bible Fellowship church for five years. Pastor Ron Vietti was seeking out someone to start an international missions program. One day, Pastor Vietti told Peter he was visiting a bookstore, and a book called “Africa” fell off the shelf and hit him! It made him think of Peter, so he reached out and shared this story and asked for his help in making missionary work in Africa come to life.
Once this work began in 2010, Peter considered this a major transition in his life. He stopped his big-game hunting as he’d found his new passion. At the same time, Karen had expressed interest in attending seminary, and in the fall of 2010, she began her work with Regent University. Karen shared, “I knew at the time Peter would need a distraction to keep him busy while I was so immersed in my studies. And then, Pastor Ron reached out to us about the African missionary work. The timing was impeccable; we both believe God had this planned for us.”
As part of this work, Peter traveled into the rural areas of Ethiopia, meeting with local leaders who asked if he and his team would help to build schools for their children. The local churches had the land, and with the help of those who donated to Peter’s nonprofit, African Children’s Schools (ACS started in 2016), they have constructed 55
schools that educate more than 4,500 children. Donations provide for these school buildings as well as desks, chairs, blackboards, playgrounds and teacher salaries. The schools educate children from kindergarten through second grade. In total, African Children’s Schools has sent more than $2.5 million to five African nations.
BELIEVE I OWE THE WORLD SOMETHING BACK.”
Peter has a special fondness for the Omo Valley area within Ethiopia. He describes it as an area with 19 tribes and very remote schools. Peter’s partner, Geza, in Ethiopia, started an identical nonprofit there that works in tandem with ACS. Peter’s group provides the funding, and the Ethiopian nonprofit ensures the needed schools are constructed and
also provides the teachers. “We work with reliable partners, board leaders and regional directors in Africa,” Peter shares. “These groups then take the funding we provide and bring our vision to life.” There are now 10 schools within the Omo Valley, educating more than 500 schoolchildren. The nonprofit has also provided $4,000 to feed the area cattle, providing
the needed food and nutrition to the people in this region.
Donations to the African Children’s Schools come from places like the Safari Club International, Valley Bible Fellowship, fellow physicians, community members, and from Peter and Karen personally. Peter’s work is 100% not-for-profit. There’s no payment for administrative overhead, and all the funds go to the needs in these African areas. “Somehow, the funding always seems to come, so we’re able to get the work done. We’re now in five nations (Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia and South Africa), educating more than 4,500 children a year.” Peter says.
Peter and Karen’s faith is a huge driver in why there are so committed to this work. Peter told me, “There’s an overarching purpose to why we do what we do. When I think about my father surviving the Holocaust, I realize that my family is one that survived. And because of that, I believe I owe the world something back.”
Accomplishments coming from donations to the African Children’s Schools include:
Construction of a kindergarten and elementary school in Uganda, which includes 140 orphans as well as educating 400 other children from the surrounding area for a total of over 500 children. This school has three separate kindergartens and grades 1-8. (You might remember in an earlier edition of Stroll Seven Oaks, we profiled Rhea Sharma, a young woman who won an award from the Women and Girls’ Fund for jumpstarting the fundraising for this project.)
Farming projects at many of the schools to make them more selfsupporting. Also, feeding programs at 16 schools in areas of famine so children have the energy to learn.
In Nazareth, Ethiopia, ACS has a plan to build a school for blind children on eight acres of land.
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“I
Peter with tribal kids
Karen with tribal kids
Peter with a young Hamar tribe girl
In South Africa, ACS constructed a school that educates between 50-60 disabled children and 50 elementary children.
Besides the schools already mentioned in Ethiopia, the nonprofit has provided funding for three schools within prisons in Ethiopia. In this nation, if a mother goes to prison, her children go to prison with her. This allows for the children to continue to be educated in this environment.
Seven schools have been built in Zambia for the Tsoli tribe with the help of partners there.
Urgent needs right now include the construction of a trade school and clothing for up to 100 orphans
in Uganda; funding for the school for the Blind in Ethiopia; funding to maintain the school system already in place for the 4,500 children now being educated.
Karen has joined Peter on nine of his missions to Ethiopia, visiting schools and working directly with the students. She has also led teams on additional trips to South Africa four years in a row. They had planned to visit Uganda this year, yet these plans are currently on hold due to an outbreak of the Ebola Virus in the area. Karen shared, “Many years ago, someone prophesied to me, ‘You and your husband will have a ministry together, and you will be working with many people of the Muslim faith.’” She feels this prophecy has come true as she reflects on the work that she and Peter are now doing together to bring their vision of a better life to the children of Africa, many of whom are part of the Muslim communities within Ethiopia and Uganda.
On a more personal note …
Peter has two daughters:
Olivia lives in Montana and is a master hunter, having been to Africa more than 30 times. She has received both the Diana Award® and the C. J. McElroy Award®, both Safari Club International Lifetime Achievement awards. She and her husband, Tom Opre, create award-winning conservation documentaries, educating the public on wildlife conservation and stewardship (check out their internet site, “Shepherds of Wildlife Society”). The couple, due to their work in Zambia, were instrumental in helping Peter and ACS establish seven schools for the Tsoli tribes there. The couple has four children.
Daughter Christina and her husband Michael live in Dallas, Texas. Christina is an X-ray and processing technician, and Michael is a pastor. They have two children.
Karen has three children:
Daughter Heather is a SANE nurse and works with her mom, and Heather’s husband Brian owns NorCal Electric Company. They have three children.
Son Cain works in the oil industry; he’s married to Jillian (a teacher), and they share two children, with a third on the way.
Son Nathan is an electrician, and his wife Amanda is a hairstylist. They have one daughter.
Peter and Karen also have a dog, 9-year-old Louie, a Catahoula Leopard Dog (Louisiana hound).
Peter and Karen have lived in Seven Oaks since 1993. They love the quiet neighborhood with its beautiful trees and parks and enjoy walking Louie in the mornings. They also have a second home in Los Osos where they go quite a bit to unwind,
walking the beach at Montaña de Oro. They enjoy gardening, and Peter boasts that he also makes “a great latte.”
Peter is slowing down, working just four days a week at his Cardiology practice. However, he stays very busy with the day-today management of the ACS nonprofit. “It’s a 365-day-ayear job, a massive project, and it needs a moderate amount of time to administer.” Karen continues to work full-time in her various nursing roles.
I asked both what they considered their greatest personal and professional accomplishments. Peter shared, “I’ve provided more than three and a half decades of cardiac care to patients here in Kern County; I’ve been a part of saving so many lives, thanks to God’s help. And I’m proud of the work I’ve done for the children in Africa.” Karen shared, “It would have to be my 33 years of nursing — 27 years in ICU, along with home health nursing, 10 years of helping sexual assault victims and working in the jail with the inmates for five years. I feel I’ve provided compassionate care for many people in the time of their greatest need. And, of course, my ministry work — teaching Bible studies at Tehachapi prison and blessing the children of Africa.”
As Peter reflects on his life as a physician and his nonprofit work, he shares, “I feel like I’ve had two lives. I’m saving lives as a cardiologist, and I’m also making lives better through the work we’re doing in Africa for more than 4,500 children. This isn’t an intellectual quest; it’s more a passion of mine to find that last lost child. My motto is, “No child too far.” I just keep feeling like we have to do more. I receive videos of African kids singing at the schools we’ve developed, and a heartfelt passion just boils over in me. If I have it my way, I’ll continue doing this work for the rest of my life.”
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You can learn more about Peter and Karen’s nonprofit work by visiting: www.africanchildrensschools.org.
Eribore children’s school
Alduba school
Hamar tribe school
Malle tribe school Mission trip to Omerate, Ethiopia
Demeke Hamar tribe school
A very happy Karen with tribal kids Peter and Karen enjoying one of their many mission trips
Adorable kids that the Nalos’ care for
