Page 5 - Aug 17

After a long two-hour, hot and bumpy ride on potholed, uneven roads - where we
were viewed with wonder by local villagers and suspiciously by a large elephant who
headed towards us angrily but then thankfully stopped - we were taken to the palace

of Chief Chamuka of the Lenje people in Chisamba District, Central Province.
He is a key supporter of the malaria eradication campaign and chair of the Central
Province End Malaria Council. As the chief entered, we kneeled and clapped and
addressed him as "His Royal Highness."

After that, it was time to be taken to where the World Malaria Day celebrations on 25
April were taking place, covered by Zambian TV News. The theme of the day's
activities was "Driven to End Malaria: Now We Can. Now We Must." The day
included a community vote of thanks, updates on the country's malaria progress,
regional insights from Chief Chamuka, district-level programme highlights, and
congratulations from and future efforts shared by 2025-26 Rotary Foundation
Trustee Chair and past RI President Holger Knaack.

This is where we met those at the centre of making this campaign a success - the
community health workers. It was a highlight of the day for me and a special Rotary
moment to be able to talk with them and thank them for their work.

The Programs of Scale grant, announced in February 2021, provided $2 million from
Rotary International to Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia, a member-led program
focused on fighting malaria. World Vision U.S. and the Gates Foundation are also
involved in malaria mitigation efforts and each contributed $2 million to the
programme. This $6 million program aimed to train and equip 2,500 community
health workers in Zambia to support the government's work to eradicate malaria in
that country.

(edited)

Rotary International have approved in principle Zone 8 redistricting effective from 1
July 2028.

Zone 8 includes Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French
Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Samoa,
Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Redistricting is in response to the decline in membership over the past ten years. The
following is a list of clubs with 30 members or more as at 1 July 2026 in our District 9620.
Rotary Club Brisbane 44

Rotary Club Brisbane High-Rise 38

Rotary Club Brisbane International 33

Rotary Club Caloundra Pacific 36

Rotary Club Carindale 30
Rotary Club Cleveland 43

Rotary Club E-Club of Australia Nomads 39

Rotary Club Gympie 32