SUMMARY: Stop Malaria 98%! Yes, hand out Artemisia Afra or Artemisia Annua seeds, teach how to make a weekly tea. Contacts: Maison-Artemisia.org/en; bridgestomalawi.org/medical/malaria/ or Lon 518-312-6588
THE ABBREVIATED STORY: We helped arrange for a $60K Rotary Global Grant for BridgesToMalawi.org to fight Malaria using WHO methods. Malaria hospital visits were reduced by nearly 70% in two villages for 2 years before the indoor wall sprays ran out. Next, Dr. Brian Lisse invested $10K (about $3K, 3 times) for Artemisia seedlings. This has reduced Malaria hospital visits by 98% in our 2 original villages, plus a much wider region, expected to be indefinitely. The weekly tea is both a preventative and a treatment.
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A MIRACULOUS STORY about FIGHTING MALARIA
Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things
Dr. Brian Lisse of Massachusetts coordinated annual medical teams to Africa. Villagers walked for miles, and waited patiently. One 5-year-old boy was brought to Dr. Lisse’s team too late to save. “I’m not used to having children die in our care,” lamented Dr. Lisse.
Dr. Lisse decided to fight Malaria in the two nearest villages. Using the techniques sanctioned by the WHO of the United Nations, and with $60,000 from a Rotary grant, he succeeded in reducing Malaria by nearly 70%. But the cost of sprays skyrocketed to $200,000. Using $3,000 of his own money, he planted and distributed Artemisia plants, the main ingredient in malaria medications. He taught the farmers when to pick the leaves and to make a weekly tea. Malaria hospital visits dropped by 98% in the two villages! The farmers harvested seeds and shared them. Malaria has dropped 98% in the entire region!
Somewhere in the world, another child died of Malaria during the minute it took for you to read this story. Imagine the pain and anguish for the siblings, parents and grandparents. Imagine if it was your child or grandchild!
HOW YOUR CLUB, or ORGANIZATION, CAN TAKE ACTION:
1. START SAVING LIVES. If you know anybody in a country that still has Malaria, Niskayuna Rotary and Houses of Artemisia can help you obtain and deliver the seeds. There is an online course to teach the villagers what to do. The villagers can work for free, as in Dr. Lisse’s case, or they can make a good living selling seeds, plantings and teas and by training others. For the business blueprint, contact https://maison-artemisia.org/en/home/
2. DONATE TIME:
2A. We can add you to a WhatsApp group, where you can listen in on the progress of the villagers and of those trying to help them succeed.
2B. You could do a Google search of every organization fighting Malaria, and share with them these techniques for stopping Malaria, for a fraction of what they are probably spending now.
2C. Contact Rotarians in countries where Malaria is still prevalent. For example, when we asked a teacher in Pakistan if Malaria was in her country., she replied with the names of 3 local children who had died. We are currently (Oct 2025) hoping to get seeds to farmers near her school. And to a Rotarian in Nigeria. And to a Rotaractor in Zimbabwe. And to a charity in Uganda.
2D. Want to see the world? Volunteer to be boots on the ground. Don’t be surprised when you are heralded like royalty.
2E Before the farmers start clearing more land, you could introduce them to HYDROPONICS. Less land, less water, less fertilizer, less energy. (Where there is no electricity, there is a manual variety.)
3. ORGANIZATIONS WORTH SUPPORTING
3A. Dr. Lisse at BridgesToMalawi.org/medical/malaria. Dr. Lisse has been donating about $70,000 a year to his own projects, and to other charities, so you know your money will be well spent, and will not be spent on overhead or travel expenses. (His contributions have dropped in half since he retired, but he still beats most of us.)
3B. https://maison-artemisia.org/en/houses-of-artemisia/ Founder Lucile Cornet-Vernet now has over 130 “Houses of Artemisia” in 35 countries, each of which is self-sustaining business, whose job it is to save lives! For example, $25 can sponsor someone to take the 8-hour online course.
CAUTION: Never send money to individuals without double checking their validity with Houses of Artemisia or Niskayuna Rotary.
4. JOIN "ROTARIANS AGAINST MALARIA - GLOBAL", www.RAM-global.org.
5. SHARE THE STORY, SCHEDULE A SPEAKER
5A SCHEDULE A SPEAKER. Niskayuna Rotarian Lon Penna (+1-518-312-6588) would be glad to be your speaker in person or Zoom. Or you can play his 2025 presentation to Niskayuna Rotary using this YouTube link: https://youtu.be/F5rIQAUHEA8
5B. WANT TO BECOME A WRITER? Share this story. For more depth, interview Dr. Lisse. Interview Lucile Cornet-Vernet. Interview Professor Pamela Weathers, leading the research at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Interview those in the affected countries. Let the good news be known.
5C. WANT TO BECOME AN INTERNET HERO? Share the good news on Social Media. You too can save lives.
