Malaria is not a distant and remote disease that
infected our soldiers in New Guinea in WWII, it is a growing problem, spreading
through tropical countries, and moving south from New Guinea as the conditions
change allowing the spread of the anopheles mosquito and the spread of Malaria.
Dorene and Steve Carroll have experienced first hand
the devastation of contracting malaria while on an adventure holiday. Like so many of us, in 1989 Steve took their
daughter Michelle on a “thank you” trip to Sabah in Borneo. They explored
jungle rivers and villages, visited the orangutan re-education centre and
climbed Mt. Kinabablu. The kind of trip so many young Australians do now to
Malaria infected countries.
Two weeks later fever struck both of them. Another 24
hours and Michelle was fighting for her life. Just three months later after
being evacuated to Australia she lost the battle. Over the years Steve has
suffered 3 primary infections and 4 relapses.
This year, 25 years on, Steve and a fellow retired
soldier Grahme Rayner want to honour her memory and raise money for the fight
against Malaria. The Rotary Club of Williamtown, under the guidance of RAWCS
(Rotary Australia World Community Services), RAM (Rotarians Against Malaria)
and WHO (World Health Organisation) will undertake the Rotary Ride Around Australia
Against Malaria leaving Newcastle on March 1, 2015, travelling around Australia
in 40 days on motor cycles.
The journey will travel north to Cairns, west to
Tennant Creek, on to Darwin, Broome, around the WA coast to Albany, following
the coast through SA to Melbourne, through Albury, Canberra, Sydney and
finishing in Newcastle.
We encourage motorcyclists along the way to join us
for as many days as can be spared and share in the journey to raise awareness
of the increasing threat of malaria. We hope that communities along the way can
assist us in raising funds to undertake a trial project to eliminate infection
in one New Guinea village. This project will form a model that can be
replicated, reducing the incidence throughout our neighbour, and reducing the
risk of the spread toward Australia.
Help
us to spread the word on the ride and to stop the spread of Malaria. In
partnership with Rotary, we can succeed in eradicating the Malaria parasite
just as we have Polio.
