Annual Report 2021
Letter from the
Board Chair
As we welcome 2022, even with another surge of Covid-19, we have so many reasons to be optimistic. The relentless determination of our people, our partners, Rotary International, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and World Vision continues based on the success we have realized this past year with Partners for a Malaria Free Zambia and Copperbelt 2.
Malaria Partners Zambia and Malaria Partners Uganda have recently been joined by our newest affiliate, Malaria Partners West Africa. Already this year, our small grant pipeline is filled with exciting and ambitious projects from Nigeria, Tanzania, and Kenya.
Global grants are currently underway for Uganda and Ghana. And, Malaria Partners International will be featured at the 2022 Rotary International Convention in Houston with a breakout session designed to highlight opportunities for Rotarians to become even more involved in malaria elimination. Awareness is growing and Rotarians are rallying to stop this deadly disease in its tracks.
I am filled with deep confidence that an international campaign to end malaria will be ignited within Rotary and that Rotarians are essential partners in making a malaria-free world our new reality. It is privilege to join the tireless MPI Board members, Ambassadors, and staff in this effort.
You, our generous supporters make all this work possible and for that I thank you sincerely. None of successes we have had in reducing malaria incidences and deaths would have been possible without your contributions and encouragement.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to share with you MPI’s 2021 Annual Report.
Adriana Lanting
Board Chair
Letter from the
Executive Director
When I pause to look back on 2021, it’s clear that the successes I’m about to share are a direct result of the generous support we’ve received from you and others who believe, as we do, that a malaria-free world is possible. Thank you for helping Malaria Partners International move closer to that goal over the last 18 months. Here are just a few of the things that we accomplished together.
We provided community-based healthcare for 1,432,000 Zambians.
Working with several Rotary clubs and Zambia’s National Malaria Elimination Centre, MPI completed three Rotary Global Grant programs that trained and equipped 1,556 Community Health Workers who are now testing and treating malaria as well as respiratory and diarrheal diseases right in their home communities. At the same time, working with the Rotary Club of Federal Way, MPI launched Rotary’s first Programs of Scale grant, Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia (PMFZ) which, to date, has trained and equipped an additional 1,308 Community Health Workers (CHWs). Each CHW provides care to 500 neighbors, and these programs are now ensuring community-based healthcare for 1,432,000 Zambians!
We partnered with African Rotary clubs on 31 Small Grant projects.
MPI’s Small Grants Program empowers Rotary Clubs in malaria endemic regions to take direct action to control malaria in their communities. Each project addresses needs carefully defined by community leaders, uses current best practices, and provides measurable goals. MPI’s Small Grants funds are matched by the Gates Foundation, and projects range from $5,000 to $15,000 total. As you will see later in this report, projects include a wide range of malaria elimination work.
We supported Rotarian volunteers in thousands of hours of malaria elimination work.
It’s difficult to gauge the actual number of volunteer hours that have been contributed to end malaria through our Global Grants and Small Grant Projects. Rotarians focus on Service Above Self, not recognition, and, as long as there is work to be done, Rotarians step up and step in. This year, we made an effort to track volunteer hours in Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia. In PMFZ alone, Zambian Rotarians contributed 2,320 volunteer hours!
Please continue reading this Annual Report to learn more about the accomplishments you supported in 2020/2021. We are so very grateful for your trust and confidence in our work and for the support that makes it possible.
Jenny Andrews
Executive Director
Our Mission
Our vision and our mission drive everything we do. We see “a malaria-free world” as we work “to ignite an international Rotarian campaign to end malaria.” As they have done through Polio Plus, 1.2 million Rotarians can lead the global effort to end malaria. We believe no one should die of a preventable and treatable disease, particularly young children.
We also believe in the power of partnerships and work regularly with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Vision, and the President’s Malaria Initiative. MPI was a key partner in the launch of Rotary’s first Programs of Scale grant, Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia. With other partners, especially Rotary Clubs in Africa, we have supported everything from small community-based projects to much larger global grants.
MPI’s greatest contributions to malaria elimination are advocacy within Rotary and training of Community Health Workers (CHWs). Our dedicated CHW volunteers, when fully trained and equipped, provide community-based healthcare to 500 of their neighbors. Working with our African Rotary colleagues, MPI has trained nearly 2,900 CHWs serving over 1.4 million people.
Our Work
Partners
For A
Malaria-Free
Zambia
In March 2021, Rotary International awarded Rotary’s first Program of Scale to the proposal led by Malaria Partners International: Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia (PMFZ).
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and World Vision each matched the $2 million Rotary grant as funding partners. They also were key partners in the development of the application along with Zambia’s National Malaria Elimination Centre (NMEC)/Ministry of Health, PATH, and Malaria Partners Zambia (MPZ). The Rotary Club of Federal Way, Washington is the official Rotary Club sponsor.
The award was a culmination of over a decade of collaboration on malaria-related projects between Zambian and U.S. Rotarians, the NMEC, local health officials, and PATH. Beginning in 2013, MPI and MPZ, with support from World Vision (one project) and the Gates Foundation (multiple projects), expanded the scale of its grants.
PMFZ has ambitious goals:
- To significantly reduce cases of malaria, especially severe cases and deaths, in Central and Muchinga Provinces by 2023.
- To increase awareness of malaria and demand for malaria services in local communities,
- To assure that the NMEC malaria reporting system is flowing timely and providing quality data from PMFZ districts.
- To develop a new cadre of iCCM+ trainers and facilitators.
- To ensure that malaria commodities, like Rapid Diagnostic Tests and malaria medications, are consistently available to CHWs in the iCCM+ program.
Despite the presence of Covid-19, PMFZ was able to train, equip, and deploy 1,308 CHWs in 2021. We also trained 60 iCCM+ facilitators, 60 facilitators for orientation in New Neighborhood Health Committees guidelines, and 239 health facility staff. Zambian Rotary volunteers supported every training session.
Copperbelt Malaria
Elimination Phase II
The Rotary Club of Seattle, the lead international club, raised funds from 24 Rotary clubs, 7 Rotary Districts, and donations to Malaria Partners International. These funds were matched by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These contributions were then matched by the Rotary Foundation at 50% and 100% (district funds).
The CHW trainees were chosen from their home villages and each is responsible for bringing basic health care to 500 or more of their fellow villagers. During 2022, their work will be augmented by Rotarian-led public education programs using social media, radio, school presentations, drama group field enactments, and meetings with community leaders.
The COVID-19 pandemic restricted trainee classes to about 30 people to maintain social distancing. Despite the restrictions, the National Malaria Elimination Centre (NMEC), local health officials, and Zambian Rotarians implemented a plan to complete CHW training by the end of 2021– in just seven months. The last trainee class graduated in December 2021 in Luanshya. This significant accomplishment was achieved by a partnership among three Zambian Rotary clubs: Mufulira (lead club), Kalulushi, and Luanshya. Key support also was provided by the Rotary Club of Seattle and Malaria Partners Zambia.
In 2022, the project enters the full implementation phase. The CHWs’ work in their home villages will be supervised, supply chain issues will be identified and corrected, and the malaria data reporting will be compiled and analyzed to determine the impact of each CHW and all CHWs collectively on the incidence of malaria.
This $997,229 Rotary Global Grant was initiated in May 2021, with the following objectives:
- To train, equip, and deploy 1,055 community health workers (CHWs) in Kalulushi, Luanshya, and Mufulira Districts in Zambia’s Copperbelt Province, benefiting 550,000 people.
- To reduce the incidence of malaria among the beneficiary population by 90% from current levels (as has been achieved in Zambia’s Southern Province).
- To reduce the malaria diagnosis and treatment burden on rural health clinics and hospitals by half or more, from 70% of cases now, which will free up budget and staff for other priority public health issues.
Small Grants
Program
The Small Grant Program brings financial resources to endemic areas, allowing Rotary clubs to control malaria in their communities. By sparking more points of action, MPI is preparing Rotary International for broader engagement in eliminating malaria.
A Small Grant directs up to $10,000 to a well-conceived malaria control project; a $5,000 grant from MPI may be matched by the Gates Foundation. MPI’s grant committee reviews each application against a prescribed set of criteria. Among them is that the host club commits to a financial investment in the project, although the amount need not be great. Projects also need not depend on fundraising commitments by international sponsoring Rotary Clubs or Districts.
Since 2018, MPI has approved over two dozen small project grants. It has nine grants in progress and another half dozen awaiting consideration. These projects collectively involve all aspects of malaria control:
- Community Health Worker training
- Public media advisories
- Larvicide spraying
- Data collection
- Wastewater management
- Window screening
- Insecticide-treated bed nets
- Community sensitizations
- IRS applications
- Testing and treating
- Malaria elements of medical camps
- Pre-natal treatments
OUR ADVOCACY
Leadership
As an organization founded and run by Rotarians, our advocacy efforts are focused on igniting a global Rotarian campaign to eliminate malaria and, in 2021, we made great strides in those efforts.
Rotary clubs and membership have grown significantly in the two provinces in Zambia where Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia has been active. Club members, District and Zone leaders, and Rotaractors have actively participated in Community Health Worker training which has drawn attention to Rotary. This grassroots involvement is often what drives decision making at Rotary International and we have seen more attention being paid as more and more Rotarians are engaging in malaria elimination efforts.
MPI and its affiliates have presented at dozens of club meetings, district conferences, zone institutes and leadership forums. In Uganda, the District 9211 Conference featured a bike ride that, despite COVID, attracted over 1,000 Rotarians to help raise awareness and funding to support efforts to end malaria.
In 2021, Immediate Past Board Chair of The Rotary Foundation (TRF), Ravi Ravindran, was featured in a video produced by MPI in which he equated the work Rotarians have done to eradicate polio with the potential they have to take on malaria and bring it to an end. TRF trustee, Hendreen (Dean) Rohrs, who grew up in Zambia’s Copperbelt regions where much of our work has taken place, served on an MPI webinar panel.
The malaria elimination movement is growing and, again, Rotarians are leading the way.
Club & Conference Presentations
In 2021 MPI shared the inspirational story of Rotary’s fight to end malaria with over 1,650 Rotarians, representing over 51 Rotary Clubs in nine U.S. states and 11 Countries. MPI team members advocate for malaria elimination by making personal and virtual presentations before Rotary Clubs, District and Zone conferences, Rotary Institutes, and Large Club Conferences.
MPI launched a webinar series in 2020 to increase our visibility, strengthen relationships with existing partners, and provide malaria experts with a platform to promote their work. The most popular webinar of 2021 featured Partners For a Malaria Free Zambia (PMFZ), Rotary International’s inaugural Program of Scale. Other timely topics included genetically modified mosquitos, the RTS,S malaria vaccine, Malaria and Gender Equity, and the unstoppable workforce of Community Health Workers.
The webinar series also gave us the opportunity to work with key global leaders in the fight against malaria: World Vision, PATH/MACEPA, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, PMI, Pilgrim Africa, Malaria No More, Roll Back Malaria, Peace Corps, UNICEF, WHO, the CDC, and local Ministries of Health in Zambia and Uganda. This has led to significant cross-organization engagement in advocacy and projects large and small. Altogether, MPI has produced 15 webinars that are available for viewing on YouTube.
January 2021
Malaria and Gender Equity
Sagri Singh
UNICEF
Valentina Buj
UNICEF
Olivia Ngou
Impact Sante Afrique
Jessica Rockwood
International Public Health Advisors.
Moderator:
Marsha Mutisi
Board Member, Malaria Partners International.
March 2021
Community Health Workers: An Unstoppable Workforce
Dr. Frederick Kaoma
Malaria Partners Zambia Rotarian
Dr. Madeleine Ballard
Executive Director, Community Health Impact Coalition
Gnima Diop
Institutional Partnerships Manager, Muso
Agness Phiri
Malaria Focal Point, Ministry of Health Zambia
Hellen Kapela
Community Health Worker, Ministry of Health Zambia.
Moderator:
Maria Nelly Pavisich
Malaria Partners International Board Member
April 2021
Rotary’s First Program of Scale: Partners for A Malaria Free Zambia
Martha Lungu
Executive Director, Malaria Partners Zambia
Bill Feldt
Rotary Club of Federal Way and Malaria Partners International Ambassador
Victor Barnes
Director of Programs and Grants, The Rotary Foundation
Sarah Crawford
Programs of Scale, Rotary International
Moderator:
Jenny Andrews
Executive Director, Malaria Partners International
June 2021
The Malaria Vaccine, A Bold Frontier: A conversation with PATH’s Malaria Vaccine Initiative
Ashley Birkett, PhD
Global Head, Malaria Vaccines, PATH’s Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access
John Bawa
Africa Lead, Vaccine Implementation, PATH’s Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access
Moderator:
Nancy Osborne
Founding Chair, Malaria Partners International
This event will provide an overview of PATH’s Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) which collaborates with a wide range of partners to develop malaria vaccines.
September 2021
A Conversation on Malaria with The Seattle Clinical Malaria Trials Center
Dr. James Kublin, M.P.H.
Medical Director, Director, Seattle Malaria Clinical Trials Center
Dr. Sean Murphy
Clinical Investigator, Seattle Malaria Clinical Trials Center
Moderator:
Arielle Howell
Board Member, Malaria Partners International
MCTC recruits healthy volunteers and conducts a variety of studies to investigate, treat, and prevent malaria infection in people. Watch our full conversation for an interesting discussion and the implications this research can have for malaria endemic countries.
November 2021
A Conversation with Target Malaria
Dr. Jonathan Kayondo,
Principal Investigator, Target Malaria Uganda
Moderator:
Adriana Lanting
Board Chair, Malaria Partners International
This video features the presentation from Target Malaria
Target Malaria conducts not-for-profit research and shares cost-effective and sustainable genetic technologies to modify mosquitoes and reduce malaria transmission.
Target Malaria’s vision is a world free of malaria.
November 2021
Genetically Modified Mosquitoes and the Future of Mosquito Control with Oxitec
Rajeev Vaidyanathan
Director of U.S. Programs at Oxitec
Meredith Fensom
Head of Global Public Affairs at Oxitec
Guest Moderator:
Kaj Pedersen
Chief Technology Officer at AstrumU
This event will provide an overview of Oxitec’s work, particularly the Oxitec Mosquito Project. It shares information on the challenges this project faced (including regulatory) and the future of genetically modifying mosquitos for disease prevention.
December 2021
6 Month Progress Update: Partners for a Malaria Free Zambia
Bill Feldt
Ambassador,Malaria Partners International; Member, Rotary Club of Federal Way
Martha Lungu
Executive Director, Malaria Partners Zambia
Eric Liswaniso
Programs Manager, Malaria Partners Zambia
Hendreen Dean Rohrs
Trustee of the Rotary Foundation
Moderator:
Sarah Crawford
Programs of Scale, Rotary International
To date, this initiative has trained 1,300 community health workers caring for 650,000 in two provinces. Join us on December 14, 2021, at 9 am PST for our final webinar of 2021 to hear more from our panel on the challenges, successes and learn what’s ahead for the next 6 months.
Our Affiliates
Partners
Zambia
Malaria Partners Zambia (MPZ) continues its work on Copperbelt Phase 2 and supporting Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia, in which we are co-implementing with World Vision Zambia (WVZ) in Muchinga and Central provinces. Our other advocacy initiatives include the following.
In 2021, we met virtually with the Presidents Malaria Initiative (PMI), to share experiences and learn from each other. The meeting, organized by PMI, was attended by MPZ Executive Director Martha Lungu, Program Managers Eric Liswaniso and Maudy Lwenje, along with PMI staff members.
We also participated in the virtual 2021 Provincial Work Plan Harmonization meeting hosted by the National Malaria Elimination Centre (NMEC). The meeting, held over three days in March 2021, was to develop a harmonized work-plan for all implementing partners. Friends from the Ministry of Health, PATH MACEPA, and WVZ also were in attendance.
The Africa Centennial Celebrations to commemorate 100 years of Rotary in Africa were held in South Africa, and Malaria Partners Zambia hosted a virtual booth as part of our advocacy efforts to interact with attendees from around the globe.
MPZ Executive Director Martha Lungu represented MPZ at the Rotary Zone 22 Institute held in Cameroon where she co-led a session about the Programs of Scale with Sarah Crawford, the Deputy Director for Programs of Scale at the Rotary Foundation.
Finally, Malaria Partners Zambia participated at the District 9210 Project fair held in Siavonga, Zambia, and Martha Lungu was one of the speakers at the district 9210 Foundation seminar. On November 18, 2021, Ms. Lungu participated in a webinar with the Arch Klumph Society, tier one donors to the Rotary Foundation.
Partners
Uganda
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to make Malaria Partners Uganda’s (MPU) work more challenging, but all the more important. Malaria control and prevention has a direct social-economic impact on our communities. Even with these challenging times, we are pleased to share the progress we have been making to save the lives of fellow Ugandans.
Three local Rotary clubs received small grants from Malaria Partners International. These projects include malaria management in local markets, treated mosquito nets, and spraying open drainages in poorer neighborhoods. To facilitate grant applications, MPU carried out Focus Group Discussions with local leaders and Village Health Technicians.
Recently, the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Malaria recognized Rotarians as major collaborators in the fight against malaria. The Speaker of Parliament also acknowledged the strategic impact of over 200 Rotary and Rotaract clubs in Parliamentary constituencies across the country.
In April, we participated in the District 9211 96th District Conference & Assembly in Kampala. Our festive booth in the House of Friendship featured mosquito repellent plants/jelly/soap, free malaria testing, and mosquito nets. We also shared the success stories of MPI Small Grant beneficiaries in our exhibit and provided malaria testing. Happily, all 102 malaria tests at the booth were negative.
MPU celebrated World Malaria Day on April 25 with a national 30km bike ride to raise Malaria Awareness. MPU worked in partnership with the RC of Kisaasi-Kyanja. The bike ride brought together representatives from WHO, USAID, UPFM, Ministry of Health’s National Malaria Control Program, Malaria Free Uganda, corporate sponsors, and citizens.
Our Financials
MPI’s increased financial support has enabled us to expand the impact of our malaria elimination advocacy efforts, both within Rotary International and throughout the global health community. More immediately important, MPI has increased the quantity and geographic reach of our small grants program. These projects fight malaria at the grassroots level by directly engaging Rotary clubs and Rotarians living in some of the world’s most malaria-endemic regions.
In 2021, we facilitated small grant projects in Malawi, Liberia, and Columbia – all new countries for MPI. Additionally, due to enhanced resources, MPI has been able to strengthen the professionalism and expertise of our invaluable support team – greatly benefitting our work.
Our Donors
Eradicator Circle
$10,000+
- Anonymous
- Adriana Lanting
- Charles Dickey &
Sheila Wyckoff-Dickey
- Jim Moore
- Juniper Foundation
- Linda Cheever
- Robert Porter
- Sheila Wyckoff-Dickey
Platinum Advocate
$5,000 – $9,999
- Anonymous
- American Foundation for
Charitable Support - Bill & Karen Feldt
- Drake Zimmerman
- Judith Stone
- Sarah Weaver
- Stacey Ogle
- William Hammond &
Nancy Osborne
Silver Advocate
$1,000 – $4,999
- Anonymous
- Catherine Dickey &
Peter Smith - Clayton Taylor
- Corrine Cavanaugh
- Daniel Perlman
- Dorothy Echodu
- Ezra Teshome
- Frank Boosman
- Harry Short
- Helen Fitz
- Jeff Pritchard
- Jim Duncan
- John Adams
- Larry Granat
- Maureen Brotherton
- Riley & Nancy Pleas
Foundation - Robert & Deb Dickey
- Robin DuBrin
- Rod & Susan Leland
- Wade & Beth Perrow
- Wendy Thanassi
- Sheila Wyckoff-Dickey
Advocate
$200 – $999
- Anonymous
- Amy Senese
- Annette Baesel
- Ariel Delaney
- Barrett Dickey
- Carol Webster
- Catherine Willis Cleveland
- Craig Devine
- Dave Siebert
- Guy Falskow
- Hasham Azam
- Howard Johnson
- Janet Showalter
- Jenny Andrews
- Jim Mulry
- Judith Kaiser
- Kathryn Nelson-Johnson
- Kathryn Williams
- Kelly & Michael Perrow
- Ken Colling
- Michael McLeod
- Robert Ogle
- Roberta Nestaas
- Sala Sweet
- Stephanie & Stuart Feldt
- Susan & Robert Dullea
- Sylvia Whittman
- Tom Lawry
Supporters
Up to $200
- Ahmet Atahan
- Barbara McKay
- Bethany Mosshart
- BI Meyer
- Bob Dove
- Bond Nichols
- Catherine Gibson
- Cat Hurst
- Gordon Chambers
- Christine Hewitson
- Dallace Palmer
- Dean Read
- Debbie Regala
- Ellen Metsker
- Eric Jones
- Eric Lind
- Gabe Harkness
- Gene Korth
- Guoqin Su
- Harold Anderson
- Heather Macphee
- James Crouse
- Jason Baesel
- Jeff Acoba
- Jeffrey Ogle
- Joe Coohill
- Jose Louis Molero
- Karen Cotton
- Karen Ragan
- Kim Bedier
- Kim Thornburg
- Kurt Kapusuzoglu
- Lee Callarman
- Margie Burnett
- Maria Nelly Pavisich
- Marjorie Conner
- Marlin Green
- Marsha Mutisi
- Mary Kupperberg
- Maureen Fife
- Melinda Kubiak
- Michael Perez
- Mikaela Maldonado
- Mima Santa Maria
- Misha Halvarsson
- Moe Sylla
- Nathalie Johnson
- Niela Miller
- Paul Olson
- Peter Lucas
- Peter Narmita
- Richard Martin
- Robert Skankey
- Robin Blumenthal
- Sandy Achinjanja
- Sharon Negri
- Tupuwa Makombe
- Tom Thompson