George Town Rotary hosted boat and bus tour along the Tamar River to raise funds for the Rotarians Against Malaria campaign.

The tour focussed on the history of the region, including both the Tamar Valley and the river.

The campaign aims to eradicate malaria in Timor-Leste by providing support in the way of netting for beds, education, tools for fumigation and avoiding the stagnation of water supplies.

As a thank you for their contribution to combating malaria in Timor-Leste, the secretary of state for vocational training and employment of Timor-Leste Julaio da Silva traveled to Tasmania to thank those responsible.

George Town Rotary member Craig Stringer said he was surprised by the visit.

“We weren’t expecting anything at all like that so to be recognised by a foreign government for doing something was a really humbling experience,” he said.

“We don’t do what we do for recognition, we do what we do to make the world a better place or the local community a better place.” 

As part of their gratitude, secretary of state da Silva presented the those behind the cruise with tais, a ceremonial adornment representing appreciation and respect.

“We were each presented with one of these [tais] as a way of saying thank you from the embassy of Timor-Leste for the work we did for the eradication of malaria in Timor,” Mr Stringer said.

The ceremony was held at the Hillwood Berry Farm.

The event was particularly special for workers at the the berry farm, many of whom are from East Timor working in Tasmania under the workers program.

“We raised about $1500 from the river cruise once we'd paid all the expenses, and that will go a long way to supporting the eradication of malaria in Timor,” Mr Stringer said.

George Town Rotary would like to thank Hillwood Berry Farm as well as those who helped with the tours.

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