Marion Bunch, Chair and Founder of the Rotarians For Fighting AIDS recently appointed Rotarian Sue Paget of the Rotary Club of Johannesburg (D9300) to be Director of a significant multi-country AIDS project for RFFA, called African Network for Children Orphaned and at Risk (ANCHOR). The sum of $8.1 million U.S. was just granted to RFFA’s ANCHOR program to improve the well-being and protection of 146,000 orphans and vulnerable children in six African countries by building the capacity of families and communities to cope and to respond. RFFA’s Vice Chair, Eric Henderson, Past President of Sandton Rotary Club, D9300) will be an advisor to Sue on this program.

Hans Ludolph, ANCHOR Representative, and Sue Paget, ANCHOR Director


Each Rotary District involved in this project will have an ANCHOR Representative. Marion and Sue are pleased to announce the appointment of Hans Ludolph as the ANCHOR Representative for D9300. Hans will be forming an ANCHOR committee that will work with local Rotary clubs to mobilize the communities in the Johannesburg area and assist HOPE worldwide in training caregivers in income generation skills and providing food packets and educational supplies to the children.

RFFA’s partner organizations in the ANCHOR program are: HOPE worldwide/Africa (who was awarded a Best Practice label for its AIDS programs in Africa); the Coca Cola Company/Africa who provided seed funding and assistance in the development of marketing materials; and Emory University’s School of Nursing who will do the monitoring and evaluation of results. The funds flow through HOPE worldwide whose staff will do the AIDS work in the African communities located in South Africa (5 locations); Zambia, Botswana, Cote D’Ivoire, Kenya and Nigeria.

The Rotarians For Fighting AIDS (formerly known as the Rotarian Fellowship for Fighting AIDS) is an action group of like-minded Rotarians throughout the world who have organized across borders to provide leadership in fighting AIDS. They were approved by the RI Board in October 2003.

Marion stated that “critical to the success of the RFFA ANCHOR program is building Rotary leadership and an organizational structure on the continent of Africa dedicated to working the plan of the ANCHOR program. I am delighted that Sue has accepted this leadership role; and with Eric Henderson as a consultant, they will get the job done.”